Little Brother
by heatherjwood
Summary: Shredder is messing around with some new chemicals, and some of it gets on Michaelangelo. He ends up becoming a child, but unlike other storylines, he keeps all of his memories.
1. Prologue

**

Little Brother

**   
_By Maikafuiniel_

* * *

  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own any thing in this story, from the characters to the plot, I'm pretty sure they all belong to somebody else. Let's hope they don't sue, eh?   
**Summery:** Mikey is out late at night when chemicals from Shredder find themselves on him. Mikey is, of course, transformed into a child. But, unlike almost all stories written with this story line, he keeps his memories and is a eighteen year old in a three year olds body.   
**Rating:** PG for adult situations, kidnapping, pain, and such, turned into readable substance for kids. I'm going to try and not use any foul language, okay? 

* * *

  


**Prologue   
Theories and Science**

* * *

  
The room was metallic silver that seemed to shine and glow because of every light that was there. Everything was made of metal, and was cleaner than any science center a normal person would come across. Along every wall was shelves full of strange liquids. Some of the acids and strange chemicals were boiling; some bubbling, and even more were quietly simmering. This was all strange as none were turning Bunsen burners. 

No, the reason that all of there were so strange was because these were not normal chemicals. These were the chemicals made by Shredder himself in his attempt to, yet again, kill the turtles. 

"Bebop! Rocksteady! Get in here!" A muffled yell came through the metal that constantly covered Shredders face. It quickly caused two pairs of feet to shuffle to attention just outside the door. 

It opened, and the two men ran inside, making many of the liquids jerk and jump just barley landing without spilling anything on the ground, or themselves. "Yes Shredder?" 

The other one saw fit to open his mouth. "Whadda ya' want?" 

"Imbeciles! Be careful! If you had spilled that stuff on yourself you'd make yourselves even more useless than you already are!" 

"Ya, and we woulddna want that!" Bebop said happily, as though he had just been complimented. He was really to stupid to realize that he had just been insulted horribly. 

"Listen fools! I've got a job for you!" He looked at the two as though checking to make sure they were paying attention. Even if they were he wasn't likely to make sure they had all the information he had given them. "I've just finished with my latest substance, and it's not worth dick. You're to dispose of it for me, as soon as possible. Make sure that there is no lead back to me." 

"Where are we supposed to, err, dump it boss?" Rocksteady asked, surprising Shredder. It was actually a fairly intelligent question for something that came out of the rhino's mouth. Of course, he wouldn't tell him that. This was the man, to use the term loosely, that was crying over the fact that he didn't get to be king of Atlantis. 

"I don't care! Put it in the sewers! New York city is so dirty already that nobody will notice. Besides that it just might kill the Turtles for me. I don't know exactly what kind of effect it would have on them..." 

"Don't cha worry boss! We'll dump the stuff fer ya." 

"Good!" Shredder rolled his eyes slowly, but nobody saw him doing it. He was glad. It wouldn't be any good for his reputation as a bad guy. It was at that point that he noticed that those two were still standing there. 

"Now you imbecilic buffoons!" 

They both ran out of the room at top speed. 

He sighed. "Finally." And continued on his experiments. Things were looking up. That is, until the explosion. 

* * *

  
Living with three brothers wasn't easy. It never was, and especially not for Michaelangelo, the youngest of the four. It was terrible! 

Michael had to be the one who was so happy ALL the time. He ALWAYS had to act as though he was a party animal. He ALWAYS had to be the fun one. Of course, he loved parties, and he loved dancing and surfing, but everyone needed a break every now and then. 

And that was not what he was getting in the sewers. Yes, he had a little bit of quiet when he was sitting his in room drawing, but that was only a temporary escape. What he needed was to get away for a little while. Just a night or two... 

And so that was how the unhappy turtle had ended up laying on the grass in one of the only fields in the entire city. Of course, he had a sewer pipe jutting out of the grass right above his head, but he knew he had to have an escape route. Even if it meant that he had to ruin his view of the stars a little bit. 

Mike loved looking at the stars. Donny would have thought that he wasn't being himself. That he was acting, or just being odd. But Mike loved looking at the stars, and drew pictures of them all the time. He would NEVER show the guys though. He wouldn't be able to live it down if Raph saw it. 

A song started going through his head, and everything was perfect. Absolutely perfect. 

Until all to suddenly a burning splash jumped into his eyes. He immediately jerked his hands to his eyes, clawing at them to get out the unknown substance. But his hands felt strange, his whole body did. He felt dizzy and was quickly lying on the ground in the chemical soaked grass. 

He was in so much blinding pain that he didn't even notice he was screaming his voice raw. 


	2. 1st Chapter

**

Little Brother

**   
_By Maikafuiniel_

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**Chapter 1   
Lost and Confused**

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It was dark. That was the first thing the Mike noticed when he woke up. It was dark and he could see... He defiantly couldn't see much. His eyes were cloudy and he had to strain them through a haze to get any distinct picture. It was just like when he had been little and needed glasses. Splinter had gone through hell and back to get them for Mike, and they were lucky to find that he didn't need them again after he was ten. Good thing too, Ninjas don't wear glasses. 

His whole body hurt, but it was like he was just worm out. It felt like the time the master had made them practice six hours everyday for a full week. It hurt, but not so badly he couldn't move or walk. And so he stood, very slowly, trying to remember what he had been doing to end up here. It was hard, because he had a headache that was threatening to bash his head in. That was not good. Michaelangelo never had headaches. Never. 

That was when he noticed how big the sewer pipe was. It was huge! Twice his size, and then the grass! The grass had to be half way up to his knees! The only thought Mikey had was that who ever was the farmer here took damn good care of looking after the grass. He had never seen it grow like this before. 

He walked towards it. He didn't remember what he had been doing, but he knew it had something to do with getting away from the guys for a while. No matter what he WAS doing, he had to go back now. He felt incredibly strange, and whenever he looked at something it seemed to be the wrong height, though this made no sense to him. 

But as soon as he made his first step to the sewers all of his cloths fell. His bandana went around his neck making him very uncomfortable. His belt fell off completely, making his weapons fall to the ground. His wrist pieces fell off along with them. His ankle ones stayed on, but they were very loose and would drag under his feet if he tried to walk like this. 

"Woa, what IS happening to me?" He said in wonder, surprised. But it was hard to concentrate. He was half blind, but what he could see was distorted in size. No sewer was that big! At least, no sewer in New York. 

But he stopped talking when it only made his headache hurt harder. In his haze he left all of his stuff right on the wet ground and stumbled into the sewer. He had to get to Sensi. 

* * *

  
Leonardo was in the middle of the room, doing jumps and kicks to stay in shape. Donatello was, of course, behind his desk working on the latest gadget that had come from his mind for no foreseeable reason. Raphael was sitting on the couch watching television, and was yelling at the Hockey players every time they did something he didn't seem to think was a good thing to do. And Splinter was sitting on the ground in the corner of the room meditating. 

Raphael knew something was bothering him. He knew because it was bothering every one. Yes, they were all going about their daily routines, but they were only doing it too pass time. They were waiting. Waiting for their brother to come home. 

Michaelangelo had been gone not for an hour, not even for two, but he had been gone for seven. Seven hours. Mikey never went out that long by himself. None of them did. It wasn't safe. 'Damn you Mikey, if you get yourself killed topside, I'm gonna kill you... Well, I'm gonna kill you again for making us all worry.' 

Yes, Mike liked to go out and have a good time, but it was always with his brothers. They had always hung out together! They did everything together! Something had to be wrong for him to just leave like this. 

Leonardo thought it was his fault of course. Even if he hadn't been the leader and have a thing about blaming himself for other peoples mistakes, he was SURE it was his fault. He and Mikey had been having a squabble over the last slice of Pizza went he had stomped off to his room and had not come out for three hours. When he finally did came out he hadn't said a word to anyone, but instead he had gone straight out. To think? Maybe. To get away for a while? Probably. But this was too long. Perhaps he should call April... 

"You will do no such thing Leonardo." Splinter said quietly, surprising him, before he had even finished the thought. Geez, that was creepy. What was he? Phycic? 

"But master! Mickey isn't back yet! I mean, come on, how long can he have fun out there in a trench coat hiding from people and all alone?" 

It seemed that the others had all been thinking ways to go out as well, because they jumped on the subject. "Please mater," Donny begged, making Raph wince, "What if he's sick, or hurt, or captured, or..." Splinter raised one furry hand to halt the river of words from over- flowing. "I am half rat, and though this is a terrible thing there are many good things as well, like my sense of smell. Michaelangelo obviously just needed a few minutes to himself, and he is coming back now. He will return within the next few minutes." He didn't mention the stench of fear that was almost overcoming his natural sent. 

They all sighed in relief. It WAS their little brother after all, and they had all been worried sick about him. "Well, I'm gonna give the little butt-head a talking too. If he wants to go running out on us, he's paying the bill for it." 

"You will do no such thing." Splinter said quietly, "I want you to leave your brother alone. He has done nothing but seek peace." 

"But..." 

"No." 

"Mast..." 

"No." 

"All I..." 

"Ten flips." 


	3. 2nd Chapter

**

Little Brother

**   
_By Maikafuiniel_

* * *

  


**Chapter 2   
Change and Differences**

* * *

  
It was dark still, and everything was fuzzy. I couldn't help but wonder what could have made my eyes like this again. It was annoying, and strange. Your eyes don't just go bad in a few hours! And everything, everything was huge. What on Earth had happened to me? 

I looked down at myself, trying to figure out what was different. After all, I might be a party animal, but I'm not stupid. Well, compared to everyone other than Donny. I knew that something weird was up, and it didn't need to dance on my nose to do it. Something was wrong. Something was defiantly very wrong. But when I looked down at myself I just looked, well, smaller. Smaller and my shell felt a little bit softer. I was a bit more cluncky when I was moving, but I attributed that to being shorter than I was a few hours ago. I didn't know how I had gotten shorter, but it would have been hard to pretend I wasn't. The lost clothing had marked that one. 

What on Earth could have happened to me? If only I could remember... It could have been natural. We ARE un-natural creatures after all. You never know what could be happening to any one of us deep, deep down. Well, Donny would probably know, but it would just ruin my appetite. Or maybe something did this to me. Or, of course, someone. 

It was always possible that Shredder was back of course, and it wouldn't be that far fetched to think of that possibility. He always did have a habit of coming back from the dead at the most horrible moments. 

But now he was almost home, just a few more minutes. Just a few more minutes until he could talk to Splinter about where he had put those old glasses of his, though he doubted they would fit, and he could veg out on the couch with Leo, Donny, and Raph to watch some old movies. Donny would be, of course, thinking through what ever had happened to him, and going on with scientific mumbo jumbo that he didn't understand about how to fix it. 

There it was, finally, the door. Mikey was home. 

* * *

  
The door opened with the resounding groan that doors seem to love doing. The three turtles and one rat looked up to see their friend, brother, and son come slowly through the door. 

Everyone just stared. The only one to say anything was Raphael. "Dammit." 

* * *

  
Michaelangelo walked into the room slowly to make sure that he didn't hurt himself again. His eyes were still a little bit sore, and it didn't help that he couldn't see. 

He knew that he was right about something being wrong though. It was impossible to pretend otherwise with the others so deadly silent. Something really really bad must have happened to him. But how could he have missed it? The only voice was Raph swearing, and Mike couldn't help but comment on it. 

"Master Splinter is gonna wash your mouth out with soap if you talk like that Raph." Oh god. His voice had come out all high and squeky like a kids, or a girls. Yep. He defiantly needed to figure this out. He couldn't see his brother, just a towering green blurry blob, but along with the sound it was enough. Suddenly he heard another voice behind him. 

"I am right here my son, and though I despise such language in this home I can understand why he has used such language. Michaelangelo, tell me, what has happened to you?" 

"Splinter?" The small turtle said in surprise, "Hiya. I dunno. I was outside looking up at the stars 'cus I just had ta get away for a little. And then... well, I'm not really sure what happened, but I feel real funky and I don't think I'm really healthy." 

He squinted at the brown blob, slightly shorter than the green ones, "Hey, um, master? Do ya think I can have my glasses? The ones that I used when I was little? Something is weird with my eyes and I think I need them." 

His brothers were still staring, and still completely speechless, so he added on, "And when I have those can I have a mirror?" 

"Michaelangelo?" Mikey looked at one of the blobs where the sound came from. Leonardo. 

"Ya bro?" He answered back, but it seemed that his brother had just been seeing if he was really him. Maybe his head had changed and he didn't look the same? 

Suddenly there was splinter again. He walked so silently, it got kinda freaky sometimes. He held his glasses in one hand and pointed to the mirror in the corner with the other. Michaelangelo put his glasses on, surprised that they fit at all. His head had grown huge since he had last needed them. Able to see again he looked at his shell-shocked brothers and worried master. Something was really wrong. 

He walked over to the mirror and looked into it for a good twenty seconds. "I'm a little kid." He said quietly in surprise. 

And then for the first time ever, Michaelangelo fainted. 


	4. 3rd Chapter

**

Little Brother

**   
_By Maikafuiniel_

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**Chapter 3   
Talks and Confrontations**

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One Ninja Turtles was off to the side working on some orange fabric, all of his thoughts silent in his head as he thought through the newest change to their group. Two ninja turtles, Leonardo and Raphael walked in circles around the table thinking hard. Even Splinter was silent, with no words of advice to explain to them. None of them knew what to do, or how to do it. 'Heck,' Raphael thought to himself 'None of us knows what started it off at all!' 

Suddenly Splinter spoke up, finally finding the words to what they were all wondering silently. "There is nothing to be done right now." Splinter said quietly, "It seems your brother has been changed into his younger form. Until he regains his memory of what happened to him we will have no choice but to make the best of the situation." 

"But," Raphael interrupted, "We can't just have Mikey stay a kid!" 

"Technically he wouldn't stay a kid. My information shows that he WOULD grow up again." Donatello said from off to the side, as if it would make Raphael happy. 

"Oh. Right. He'll grow up AGAIN. That's excellent. Maybe Donatello, we don't WANT to have him grow up again! Maybe, just maybe, we want him to be an adult NOW!" 

"Technically we're only nineteen so none of us are adults yet." 

"Shut up!" The other two turtles yelled at Donatello. 

"Well, I never." He muttered to himself just loudly enough for the others to hear him. But of course he had. 

Meanwhile through the fighting Splinter sat on the couch, a small head in his lap. He was muttering under his breath, and smiling as though reliving some great memory. Slowly he raised one gnarled finger to his face. "Shhhh... Michelangelo will no doubt need all the sleep he can get if he is too wake up to this plane of existence." 

"Master, what are we going to do when Mickey DOES wake up?" 

"I would suggest having a pizza ready. Although make sure the crust is soft, he is young now, and still a tad sick from what ever was put on him. I do not know if his stomach can hold that nonsense he normally uses. But he will no doubt be hungry." 

"He's always hungry." Raph said quietly, but hopefully. He would give Mikey a thousand Pizzas when he woke up if he could. 

A soft snorting and shuffling sound from the small Turtle told them all that he was going to wake soon. Splinter stood up and grabbed the small pair of old and worm glasses from the table. All of the Turtles remembered the glasses. Mikey had to wear them when all of the four Turtles were much younger. Splinter had been very worried when he had found out that one of his sons was having trouble seeing. All of them could remember the party Mikey had held when Splinter had decided he no longer needed them. He had tried to throw them out but the master had stopped him, saying that even if he had never needed them again it would be a good idea to keep them. 

They were all happy that their master had kept them now. 

Donny walked closer to the group, holding a smaller set of knee pads, belt, and a piece of cloth that he had cut for Mikey to put around his eyes. It had taken a little while to fix it all so that it would fit his much small frame, but it was perfectly possible. 

"Master, what do we do about his Nunchakus? You didn't let us touch our weapons until we were ten or so. He's far too small to handle them anymore, no matter what skill level he has. What age would you think he is? Five or six?" 

"Actually," Master Splinter said, with a glint in his eyes making them know he thought something was funny. "He is about three. Believe it or not, he was much taller and larger than the rest of you when he was young. I often made the mistake of him being you," he pointed at Leonardo, "And you being him. Raphael and Donnatello were very short when they were young. He was only a tad taller than you though Leonardo." 

"Mikey? Mikey our youngest brother Mikey? He was the tallest of all of us when we were little?" 

"Yes. I often thought he would turn out to be the leader of you, even if he was the youngest, but then the three of you took off on growth spurts when you were about five and he grew slowly after that. He was always the shortest after you all had your spurts." 

"Funny. I don't remember anything about that." Donatello said. 

Raph took up that conversation before Splinter could start this time. "We WERE only five Donny. Don't be stupid." 

"Stupid? STUPID? At least I'm not you Numbnuts. Then you would have the perfect excuse to call me stupid." He shoved Raphael in the shoulder with and angry look on his face causing Raphael to punch him in the face. They both began to fight after that with Leonardo in the background snickering. If any of the three Turtles had been listening to Splinter they would have heard him mutter about kids and turn back to the soon to waken Michelangelo. 

"Ten flips." 


	5. 4th Chapter

**

Little Brother

**   
_By Maikafuiniel_

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**Chapter 4   
Disturbing Awakenings**

* * *

  
_Dear Journal, _

Well journal. This has defiantly been one of the weirdest days in the history of weird days. Normally I write in you about a girl that I saw in a movie I think is cute, or I ramble on and on with musing and poetry about how Raph and Leo are always fighting. Well, today you get a totally new thing to look at. I don't think anybody could have ever written about something like this. 

Okay, stop rambling Mikey. Well, you want to know what happened today? I turned into a little kid. Can you believe it? I turned into a three-year- old. A three year old! Well, I didn't really know it 'till I fainted in front of all the guys and Master Splinter. Just that something felt really off... 

See I was outside looking up into the stars, trying to work off some bad mood I was in 'cause of the guys. At least I think that was why I was out there. I can't remember it all to well. Anyway, I was splashed in the face by something. I went unconscious and when I woke up I felt all funky. So I go home to the sewers and as soon as I walk in the door everyone starts staring at me. Now, normally this might mean something good, like one of my better pranks had worked, but not this time. So after I ask Splinter for my old glasses (I couldn't see, you see?) I go up to the mirror and look inside it and there's me. But not the me I expected. I saw myself as a three year old. God, I can't get passed that. Three. 

And than I fainted. Can you believe it? I, the great, perfect, and wonderful Michelangelo, fainted. Well if you saw yourself as a three year old you'd faint too. Good things books can't faint. Especially horror books. They'd never wake up again. 

And than, when I woke up... 

* * *

  
"Master Splinter?" A soft voice broke through the counting of the Turtles. Donatello and Raphael knew that they should have been doing flips still, but the quiet questioning voice they heard stopped them and they both walked over. 

"Michelangelo, my son, it is okay. Now it is time to awaken." The half closed eyes of their tiny brother opened a little bit more. All three turtles, and the one rat, smiled slightly. Mickey always was a slow Turtle to wake in the mornings, even if something exciting was happening that day. 

Half asleep the little Turtles didn't realize the impact of his words when he spoke them next. "Master Splinter, I feel totally funky..." 

It was a very Mikey type of sentence. Even if he hadn't told them he had all of his memories this would have cinched it. He acted completely normal, even if he didn't look it. 

But their father of nineteen years (although you wouldn't know it if you walked into the sewer now and only saw Mike) didn't start in surprise or look scared, unlike his other sons. "Michelangelo. It is time to awake. You fainted in front of the mirror. Do you remember?" 

His eyes flew open when he remembered that he had, and even worse, why he had. "Oh my god Master Splinter, I've been turned into a little kid!?" He questioned, scared. 

"Yes my son. I'm afraid that you have. From your size I would think you are about three years of age." 

"Three yeas old?" His voice squeaked. 

"That is correct." 

"I'm three years old?!" 

"From the sound of it he's been mutated into half a parrot as well." Raphael interrupted with a small smile, not all that helpfully. But it did manage to break the horrified look on his younger brothers face as he turned to look at him through huge spectacles. 

"Oh my god Raphael, you're huge." Raphael smiled at the comment but Mike turned to look at everyone else as well. "You all are! This is just a bad luck for Mike thing than? Nobody else is being turned into a kid?" 

"Nobody else but you squirt." Leonardo said, nor realizing what he did until after it was already said. 

"Squirt? Look Leo, I might look like a little kid, but I'm NOT! I'm not a squirt, and don't you dare call me it again." He said angrily. He didn't want to have to grow up again, and he didn't want his brothers to be so much bigger than he was. It would be horrible. Just like the first time around. His brothers playing tricks on him. His brothers calling him names. God he hated childhood. The comment wouldn't have gotten a reaction from him normally, but these were special circumstances. He was already more than a little stressed over the situation and being reminded of it like this did NOT help. 

He turned away from Leonardo to where he saw Donatello holding his pad and the like. "Hand 'em over Donny." 

Donatello was about to hand them to his brother when Splinter stopped him. "Say please Michelangelo." 

This was too much for the younger Mikey, and he stood up to his full height. (Which wasn't much anymore and didn't look very menacing at all) As sarcastically as he could, and in the direction of Splinter instead of Donny he said, "PLEASE give me my clothing NOW Donny." 

Splinter would have comment on how rude he had just been but before he could his youngest child, in more than one way, was already stomping out of the room. The Master would have followed him but this was not a normal situation, and he couldn't try and FORCE his son to stop being in a bad mood. This was a bad situation, plane and simple. Too see his son happy about it would have just been strange. He would have to work out his bad mood on his own, in his bedroom. Like he always did. 

Less than a few minutes later Mikey came walking out of his bedroom, redressed in his new clothing and pads. His glasses say perilously on his beak ready to fall off with the smallest push. Again Splinter smiled as memories assaulted him. His son getting his glasses. His son had been so surprised at how well he could see with them on. He had taken so much care of those glasses, and Splinter knew he loved them. Even if he HAD thrown a party when he had gotten rid of them. His father knew he didn't want to throw them out, but Raph had told him too and none of his brothers knew how much he had cared for them. They were a gift to Mikey. They were the gift of sight. But he didn't want to have anyone know how much he cared for a couple pieces of metal and glass. 

He wasn't stomping anymore, and he wasn't nearly as angry. No, he didn't look happy, but he had at least worked out his anger in the few minutes he had been in his room. What he had done to work out the anger nobody knew. Nobody ever did. 

Ever so carefully, which was amazing as this is Raphael we're talking about, his brother said quietly, "Mickey?" 

"Ya bro?" He said stiffly. 

"Are you gonna be okay about this?" 

"No. I'm not. But it's not like I can change it." He stopped to think for a second and turned around and looked upward to Donatello. "Can I?" 

"No Mikey. I'm sorry. But we're going to have to find out what you were splashed with before we can get you back to the right age." Donatello looked happy. Despite the fact that his little brother was truly little now he had a new science thingy to explore. This was all his. "We wouldn't be able to get any off of you because you walked through the sewers and probably got splashed with all sorts of things. And nobody really knows what's in the sewers after it all gets mixed together." 

"It's probably because nobody _want's_ to know Donny." Leonardo put in helpfully. 

Mickey just stood there waist high listening to all of this with a far-away look on his face. Suddenly he asked, "Master Splinter?" 

"Yes my son?" 

"Can I have my Nunchakus back now?" 

Everyone in the room was all too suddenly silent. Michelangelo was small now. No matter what his mind was he was small in body. He couldn't handle the weapons without getting hurt, or somebody else getting hurt. The future was all to clear. The three would be going out to bust criminals and Mickey would be at home. The three would be in the dojo and Mickey would be in his room. The three would be doing almost everything they always did, and Mickey would be on the sidelines. 

This one incident had hurt the Turtles and their father. Badly. 

If they ever recovered from it was another story all together... 


	6. 5th Chapter

**

Little Brother

**   
_By Maikafuiniel_

* * *

  


**Chapter 5   
For Your Own Good**

* * *

  
"Mikey," Leonardo started sadly, "Look. We just-" 

"Leo, hand over the weapons. They're mine and you know it. 

"I know that Mikey," he tried again, stronger this time, "But you have to listen. It's not so simple as that." 

"Funny Leo, I thought it was. See, you hold out your arm, and untwist your fingers-" 

"Mikey, the plain and simple fact, no matter how much you're not going to like it, is that I can't give you back your weapons." 

"WHAT?! Why now? Master Splinter!" He looked to his Sensei who looked as though taking part in this conversation was the last thing he wanted to do. 

"Michelangelo, your brother is correct. I can not allow you to have your weapons." 

"And just why not?" 

"Do you remember what age I allowed you to use even the training weapons my son?" 

Mike stood their for a moment, thinking hard. "About… five?" 

"Hai. And do you remember why?" 

"Well sure sensei! 'Cause we weren't practiced in them or anything! But I know how to use them now! It shouldn't matter how small I am!" 

"Sadly my son, it does. As you've regressed you have lost the muscle and likely the abilities you once had. They were practiced my son. You're abilities to use your weapons and moves were created from years of practice. And even if you know the movements themselves now, it does not matter. You have none of the muscle to accompany them." 

"But Master Splinter-" 

"No Michelangelo. You are not to use the weapons. You are not to enter the dojo. Please… I simply do not want you to be hurt. You understand this, do you not?" 

Mike looked at his father for what seemed like far too long, and his brothers were getting fidgity. It was obvious they were expected to stay, but they didn't know what to do. What to say. 

* * *

  
Eventually I backed off. Master Splinter was telling the truth, I knew that. He was my father after all, and he wasn't going to just lie to me or anything. There was no point. 

But dude, I was mad. Not at him. Not at my brothers even, though they kept spouting off with things like, "Hey Squirt", and "How's the weather down there?" 

Actually, the last one was just Raph. 

It was like that for a full week, you know? Just them, being really mean about it, and Splinter acting like I really was three. Not just in body though. 

At first it was like nothing much changed. I wasn't expected to cook anymore, which sucked big time. The guys and I figured out that I wasn't going to be able to use the stove or anything, because it was just too big for me. 

At first I figured it was going to be awesome. I wouldn't really be expected to cook, so that would mean I had more free time, right? Well, choking down the awful so called healthy things that Leo and Donny cooked took up most of my time. Veggies were way too suddenly part of every meal. 

But other then that… It was kind of like normal. I watched my cartoons, just like I always had, and I drew my pictures, just like I always had. But then, it was around seven o'clock and Master Splinter called all my bros to the Dojo. I went along, not thinking anything of it, right? Well, soon as I got there Splinter sent me away. 

He said that it was practice time and that I might get hurt. 

I wanted to get mad and everything, but I couldn't because Raph would have just said I was having a hissy fit and it was normal for kids that were my age. Of course then I would get mad, but then what? Would we fight? Would we yell? 

Nope. No fighting and no yelling because I might, ya, you guessed it. 

I might get hurt. 

Because now I'm little. 

Oh how I want to punch him, brother or no. 

And that's why after a full week of being stuck as a little kid, I snuck out of the lair again. 

C'mon dude, can you blame me? 


	7. 6th Chapter

**

Little Brother

**   
_By Maikafuiniel_

* * *

  


**Chapter 6   
It's A Mini Turtle**

* * *

  
"Bebop! Rocksteady! Get it here!" The booming voice went through all the speakers in the lab, but the two goons didn't hear him. They were still in bed you see, snoring as though they were animals in a heard. 

But Shredder wasn't ready to be nice in the least, let alone let them sleep in! With those thoughts in mind he slammed their door open and made way to the edge of the two beds. Without a sound or moments noticed he gripped their shirts and lifted them high above their beds. 

"And just what do you two idiots think you're doing?" 

Being woken up so suddenly did nothing for their… less then standardized minds, and they weren't able to talk for a moment. 

"Well? I'm waiting for an answer here!" 

"Boss," Bebop said, "C'mon! Let us down! _Please?_" 

"Not until you tell me what you fools think you're doing by sleeping all day! I have an entire empire to get ready to run you know!" 

"We wuz just sleepin' boss," Rocksteady said, We were tired!" 

"And prey tell, why couldn't you have slept during the night like the intelligent people?" 

"_You _sent us out! Remember! To destroy that gook that didn't do nothing'!" 

Shredder smiled under his mask. "Ah, that's right, I did." With those words he dropped the two hench men to the ground, missing the beds on purpose. "And did you?" 

"Did we what?" Bebop said stupidly, rubbing his head where it had hit the ground. 

"Destroy the substance!" 

"Well sure! We dumped it into the sewers, just like ya said!" 

"Ah… good," he muttered, "It seems you two have finally done something right. Now. Where is the container it was in? I don't have enough for my next experiment." 

Rocksteady looked at him oddly for a moment, "Um, boss? It's in the sewer, just like you told us to put it!" 

Shredders eyes flew open and he cursed in Japanese. "You idiots! I told you to dump the substance, not just put the container in the sewers! I told you not to leave any evidence it had been mine!" 

"But boss," Bebop said, "It's just a contianer!" 

"With the substance name on it, and with my fingerprints you baffon! Go! Both of you! Find that container before somebody else does!" 

* * *

  
__

Meanwhile 

Splinter sat in one of the many sewer pipes that led away from the lair. It was one of the few places he could have peace. But his mind wandered away when he noticed something floating in the sewage in front of him… A container with a crack in it. 

"Hmmm…" he muttered, looking at the label. "Shredder in Co." 

He laughed to himself that Shredder would actually put his name on his products. But then, that man was so vein his costume had to be made of reflective metal. 

Splinter smiled to himself. Now, at least, he knew a bit more about what happened to his youngest son. 

* * *

Michelangelo walked through the sewer pipes slowly, hopping from one to another rather then than walk through the waters. He was shocked at everything. At home he had had a chance to get used to everything, but now in the sewers everything was different. Everything was… bigger. Harder to get to, and a bit scarier. 

Not that he would tell anybody _that_. He had an image to maintain after all. 

"Party dude my shell," he muttered to nobody, "This week has got to be one of the worst! I mean, come on. The guys are treating me like a little kid! Just because I'm a bit smaller…" 

He would have taken a Sewer Skimmer out with him, but it seemed he was too small to reach the controls now. And even if he could have, it was too noisy. The guys would have caught up with him in ten minutes or less. 

"And it's not like I need them to protect me or anything," he muttered. 

It was then that he heard something behind him. A scratching, sniffling sound. Something being dragged… 

"Oh no," he said, "That ain't one of the guys! And I don't have my weapons on anything…" 

He hid behind a large pipe as quickly as he could, trying to pretend his heart wasn't beating like crazy. After all, saying you're perfectly safe and actually being like that were two very different things. 

The sound was coming closer now, splashing as though it was moving through the water… 

Finally he saw what it was. A rat. 

An everyday sewer rat. 

"C'mon Mikey!" he said to himself angrily, "grow up! You're freaking out about nothing dude! Just calm down! You're a fully trained Ninja after all! You don't have to be afraid of a stupid sewer rat." 

That was when everything went black. 

* * *

  
__

5 minutes earlier 

"Aw c'mon Rocksteady! We ain't gonna find it! It's way too confusing down here anyway, and it smells bad." 

"Bebop, the boss 'ill kill us if we don't come back with it! And it doesn't smell all that bad." 

"Sure it does. You're just used to it 'cause that's what the bathroom smells like after you use it." 

"It does not! Hey… is that it?" 

"Nah. Just a bottle. We ain't gonna find it!" 

"I know, but what do you think we should do? The boss is gonna kill us." 

"Hey! Look over there!" 

"What is it?" 

"It's a mini turtle!" 

"Don't be stupid! There's no such things as mini turtles!" 

"I'm not stupid, stupid! If it's not a mini turtle, what is it?" 

"I don't know! But it sure looks like a turtle I guess… just… smaller!" 

"You think the boss will forget about the stupid bottle if we bring him back a turtle?" 

"I don't know, but it's worth a try." 

And with that they started sneaking up on the little turtle. It wasn't listening because it had apparently had a bit of a scare just before, and was trying to calm itself down. Bebop and rock steady laughed as the little turtle fell to the ground. 

"He's gonna have a head-ache when he wakes up." 

"Ya. But it's better him then us." 

"No kiddin'." 


	8. 7th Chapter

**

Little Brother

**   
_By Maikafuiniel_

* * *

  


**Chapter 7   
A New Plan**

* * *

  
Shredder walked to one side of the room, his arms folded behind him. He walked to the wall, looked at it as if surprised to see it there, and turned to walk back to where he had been. He walked back and forth, pacing the room, for a full ten minutes before he started to mutter to himself. 

"Those imbeciles," he said, "If they don't find it… I don't need the police after me for dumping illegal substances… too much trouble… why I ever even _try_ to send those two out on an important mission is beyond me. Like they say about having something important to do… always do it yourself. Never trust two simpering fools to do anything worthwhile." 

He went on in this manner for quite a while, not noticing when the door opened silently and the two 'men' walked in. 

"Eh, boss?" one said loudly, trying to get the attention of Shredder. 

Shredder jumped in surprise to find them back already. The sewers of New York were so big the two had probably given up. 

"Well? Have you got it?" 

"Erm… no." 

"Well then what are you doing back here? Get back out there and find it you idiots!" 

"But boss!" 

"But _what_?" 

"We got something' else for you boss. We think you'll like it." 

"And what could you have possibly have brought me from the _sewers_ that I could possibly _want_?!" 

"A mini turtle?" 

And with that Bebop dropped a large garbage bag in front of Shredder. He sighed. "Bebop. There are no such things as 'mini-turtles'. Not get off your lazy-" 

"No boss, really!" Rocksteady said, "There's a mini turtle in there! Really!" 

With another sigh he lifted the bag and opened it. 

"A mini turtle indeed…" 

* * *

  
_Back at the Lair_

Splinter walked through the door of their lair and noted that the television was off. Something that was not often seen in his home. "Donatello?" 

"In the kitchen Master Splinter," the voice of one of his four sons called out. "We're eating dinner! Want some?" 

Splinter walked into the room to see that his sons had… pizza. When Leonardo saw the confused look on his fathers face he tried to explain. "Well, Mikey seems pretty down lately, so we bought a pizza. Having one every once in a while wouldn't hurt. But we couldn't find him in the lair, so we were just going to save some for him." 

"It is alright my son," Splinter reassured his son, and turned back to Donatello, "I have found something, I think it may hold a key to bringing Michelangelo back to his proper age." He pulled the container out of one of his pockets and held it to where his son could see. 

"Thanks Master Splinter! I'll have a look at it right away," and he was gone leaving only a half piece of pizza on his plate to show he had ever been there. Of course, the pizza was gone into Raphaels throat after only a moment. There was a mumble about how growing turtles needed their food, but the kitchen was soon quiet again, and so Splinter sat down with a plate of his own dinner in front of him. 

After a moment Leonardo looked up at his father, "Do you think we're going to have Mikey back soon Master Splinter?" 

"I am not a scientist my son, but I do see that he must join us again soon, or find another path in life. He could re-learn everything he has lost in his regression but… it would not be the same." 

"No. It wouldn't. Everything is different now Master Splinter. All of these three turtle moves were working on… even if they _do_ work, they're just so different. We've always been _four_. It kinda feels like were cutting Mikey out of the fold. I know he's angry too, even if he doesn't say anything." 

"Well," Raphael interrupted, "Of course he's angry! It probably feels like we just chucked him out of a club or something. What did you expect?" 

"I don't know!" Leonardo said sadly, "But I didn't think it would be this hard! It wasn't when we were growing up the first time around!" 

"Ah," Splinter said, "But the first time you grew up, it was together. Weather we has brothers or not is no longer an issue. If he is to become a ninja again he must now do it by himself. He will become a solitary one." 

"But," Leo said, still sadly, "He can always join us again, when he's back up and about!" 

"When he is back to where he must be to be a ninja he will not be able to." Said Splinter. 

"Why not?" 

"Because by the time that point has come you and your other brothers will have learned long ago to fight as three, and he will have learned to fight as one. For all intents and purposes my son, weather or not he feels loved, he is growing up a single child now. One who is wise beyond his years." 

"Wise?" Raphael snorted, "Mikey?" 

"Though the words do not seem to match, he is indeed wise. And will always be considered now, especially compared to… to children his age." 

"It's just so stupid!" Leonardo said, getting mad now, "Why did this happen! How?! I don't _want_ to become a group of three. I don't want Mikey to grow up not having brothers in the same was as before." 

"We must all do things we do not like Leonardo," Splinter tried to explain, "But he is now growing up in a world where his family bases much of their time in an exercise that he can not take part of. The world does not always give us reasons for what happens, but now we must try to deal with it… as best we can." 

"Hai," Raphael muttered, "But it still sucks." 

He reached for another slice of pizza, and seeing only the one they had saved for Mikey, stood up. "I'm gonna go look for him. He's been out there way to long. Big or little, it ain't safe without back up." 

Splinter and Leo both nodded and watched as their brother left the lair. 


	9. 8th Chapter

**

Little Brother

**   
_By Maikafuiniel_

* * *

  


**Chapter 8   
A Trail to Follow**

* * *

  
Raphael walked for a little while straight down the pipe that lead to their home. He was watching the ground, the dirt, for footstep marks, and up until now they had been quite obvious. But then they had suddenly disappeared. 

He looked up and around for where he could have gone and saw some scuff marks on a pipe just a little bit above him. He laughed, knowing that Mikey hadn't wanted to cross the disgusting waters that were coming up soon and had obviously decided that doing a little pipe-walking was in order. 

Well, if he was going to find Mikey he would have to go on the same path! Jumping up he landed on a pipe, a bit too small for him to stand comfortably, but obviously his 'little' brother would have done just fine. 

He jumped from pipe to pipe for quite a while. When he couldn't see scuff marks he would look instead for the pipe that would be hardest to get to. He knew his brother would want to prove, at least to himself, that he wasn't a child. That he could do things that were hard. And Raphael was right. After following an invisible path for a few moments he found scuff marks again. 

But they looked… odd. It looked like he had stood in the same place for a moment, spinning. Following the marks he saw that Mikey had been standing behind a pipe. But _why_? Was he hiding? Watching? 

Raphael could think of no other reasons and so stood where his brother had, looking out into the sewer. Looking out he saw nothing, and so kept following the tracks. But that was a short task as only a few seconds later he saw signs of a struggle. 

'_Aw Mikey_,' he thought to himself, '_what did you go and get yourself into now_?" 

But it was only two obvious. In the struggle marks there was also shoe prints. Shoe prints he had followed before. 

Rocksteady and Bebop. 

Shredder had Mikey. 

With that knowledge in mind he sped back towards the lair. He knew he had to get his brothers as soon as possible. Mikeys life could be depending on it. 

* * *

  
_Shredders Hideout_

Shredder stood quietly in front of the large cage he had had Bebop and Rocksteady bring in. n the cage there was a small bed, and a small turtle laying on it, but nothing else. 

He watched the small turtle for a moment in amazement before standing up again to talk to himself, as he always did, when something amazing happened. 

"Another turtle," he mumbled to himself, "Another turtle, probably destined to become a ninja." He shook his head in confusion, "But where did he come from? What could have brought him about, and why haven't I heard of him? I was the creator of the substance that created the other turtles, and I know there is no more of that." 

He started pacing then, one eye still on the cage where the young turtle was still out cold. "And there are no females of their species… this is impossible! Impossible!" He stopped and looked hard at the turtle for a moment before going back to pacing. 

"And if I didn't create it, and the turtles couldn't have done it… somebody else has been doing genetic research on the turtles. But then it begs the question just why is it wearing the colours of the orange turtle, Michelangelo?" 

He stopped, took a swig of water from a nearby bottle and paced again. "The only possible reason he exists is because somebody was doing genetic research. Obviously the turtles got wind of it and saved it not to long ago, or I would have known about him. 

"He probably latched onto the orange one, and that's why they share a colour. Michelangelo was raising him… though how such a… silly one could be trusted to raise a child is beyond me." 

He sat down again, staring hard at the turtle. "And now what do I do with it? Use it as bait? …No," he reconsidered, "I've tried that before, again and again, and it has always failed. To try again would only prove that I can not consider my plans. But how else to use it, hurt the turtles, and still have it useful to me? This is a once in a life time chance." 

Shredder started as he noticed the small turtle shift. He had moved from unconsciousness to sleep obviously, and wake soon from a headache. 

"Perhaps I can use him. Perhaps… perhaps I can use him to find the location of their lair, if not more. When he wakes, I will make sure to be on his good side. Perhaps then he'll offer information." 

* * *

  
Mikey rolled over to his side, trying to go back to sleep. '_Ow,_' he thought to himself quietly, '_What happened to me? Where am I?_' 

Without opening his eyes he thought back to what had happened. He remembered… a rat. He had been freaked out by a rat, and then… 

Two figures. Just shadows to his eyes, and even less to his memory. '_I've been captured!_' he realized with a start, and had to make a supreme effort to keep his eyes closed. '_Okay,_' he thought slowly, '_Remember what Master Splinter said. When you've been captured and black out, make sure you don't let them know you're awake. Just… listen. Figure out as much as you can first._' 

He listened as hard as he could, but his headache and nausia was making it much too difficult. The most he was able to gather was that he was with Shredder, and Shredder had no idea who he was. 

'_So just figure out a new name,_' he thought to himself, '_If Shredder doesn't know who I am, I'm not going to just volunteer the info! I can even stick with the whole renissance theme!_' 

And just before he could keep his eyes closed no longer, just before the nausia became too much, he settled on the name Giovanni. 

The name itself wasn't all that great, but at least Shredder wouldn't think it was odd considering how the rest of them were named. 


	10. 9th Chapter

**

Little Brother

**   
_By Maikafuiniel_

* * *

  


**Chapter 9   
Conversations With the Boss**

* * *

  
Shredder watched as the young turtle blinked a few times, trying to bring his mind back to the world around him. He almost laughed when the word cute popped into his head. This was a turtle. A freak. His enemy. He most certainly was not cute. 

But then, it was hard for Shredder to deny that the little tyke was cute. There was no other way to describe it. He looked scared, yes, but he was obviously hiding a lot of his fear. Something that was incredible for a child his age. 

It looked to Shredder like he was holding back anger as well. Probably for the whole kidnapping bit. 

Strangely, he also looked incredibly… disgusted. He wondered about this for a only a moment when the turtle stood up suddenly, looking for a place to throw up. Motioning that he needed something to do it in, Shredder passed a small bucked through the bars. 

After a few minutes of retching Shredder had stood up and was watching. Had his hench men hit him _that_ hard? Evidently they had, and obviously it wasn't at all healthy for a boy of his age to have blacked out. 

When he finished throwing up the little turtle looked up in a daze to where Shredder stood, and slowly pushed the bucket between the bars. With a quick movement of his hand, Shredder had a foot soldier there. 

The turtle looked like he was getting ready for a fight, but the ninja simply took the bucket from the room to throw it, and it's disgusting contents, away. 

Shredder stood there for a moment, eyes locked with the child, before he spoke. "Hello there. What might your name be?" 

The turtle looked at him, and in an annoying, obviously sarcastic voice, he replied, "I'm not supposed to talk to strangers." 

"Ah," Shredder replied, trying hard not to put his hands through the bars and choke the turtle, "But I am no stranger. I'm Shredder." 

"What kind of name is Shredder?" 

"It's mine." He still wanted to wrap his hands around the turtles neck, and it was getting harder not to. This turtles was an insolent little- "Please tell me _your_ name turtle." 

"Why should I?" He responded, seemingly holding back the urge to stick out his tongue at the older man. 

Shredder immediately responded with, "Because if you don't tell me, I'll figure it out for myself. And believe me, you won't enjoy that. Though believe me, I will," before he could stop himself. Thankfully it did the trick, because the young turtles eyes grew a little bit wider and he looked around for a place to escape. 

He was indeed trapped, and young as he was, obviously knowing that Shredder could do some very… painful things to him were he to refuse to give his name again. 

"My name… is… Giovanni," he muttered slowly, as though the name were new to him. It only enhanced Shredders idea that he had only recently began to live with the turtles again. 

Shredder smiled. "Giovanni eh? Who gave that name to you, your uncle?" 

"My… uncle?" the young turtle replied in growing confusion. 

"Michelangelo, right? He's raised you? That's why you're dressed in his colour?" 

The young turtle- Giovanni apparently, immediately nodded in relief. "Ya. Um, Uncle Mikey named me. That's right. My name is Giovanni. Gio." 

"Well, that's nice!" Shredder said in a sickly, sweetly voice, "Now. What else can you tell me about your uncle Mikey Giovanni? About all of your uncles. Tell me everything." 

"_Everything_?" 

"Everything." 

* * *

  
_An hour later_

Shredder stood up from where he was sitting and sighed in exasperation. The entire hour had been wasted, as the turtle had refused to give up barely anything after his name and family, let alone anything useful. 

He was about to walk out of the room, perhaps Krang would have something interesting to talk about, when Giovanni's voice called him back in a slightly scared voice. "Um… Shredder?" 

"What?" Shredder replied in a tired, angry voice. 

"…When do I get something to eat?" 

"You're hungry?" 

"…I never ate dinner today. Am I gonna get fed here?" 

"I can't have you dying kid. I'll get Bebop to find you a pizza." It was the first thing that came to mind, and he knew that the turtles ate them almost constantly. 

"Pizza?" the child asked in surprise, "You're going to give me pizza?" 

"That is what you turtles eat, isn't it?" 

"Well ya… usually I get vegetables for supper though is all." 

Shredder recognized this as a chance he could use against the turtles and walked back up to the cage. "Well Giovanni, you can have all the pizza you want while you're here! Anything you want in particular?" 

The turtle was obviously confused at this sudden display of kindness, but not giving up a chance to have pizza he said, "…Pepperoni?" 

"No problem Giovanni, one will be brought down for you really soon, okay?" 

Both nodded, though the turtles was confused and a bit scared, and Shredder walked out of the room. As soon as the door closed, he began to laugh his head off. 

"What's so funny boss?" Bebop said, coming up behind him. 

"Ah Bebop, I've just found the way into his heart. Give his what his family wouldn't, and he'll soon be doing anything I say! Telling me whatever I want!" 

Bebop obviously didn't understand this really, and simply nodded his head. "Oh." 

He began to walk away, but Shredder called him back. "Oh, and Bebop!" 

"Ya boss?" 

"Our guest would like a pepperoni pizza. Make sure you get one for him within the hour." 

"Okay boss." 

* * *

  
_Back at the Lair_

Donatello stood, hunched over his desk, with goggles on his face and gloves on his three fingered hands. Gloves he had had to make himself, due to the problem of humans have five fingers. '_Well_,' he thought, '_Four and one thumb, but it's still two too many.'_

His computers were spouting off knowledge that nobody but he could understand, the microscopes were set up in more then one place, each one looking at a different sample of the liquid found in the container. 

Donatello know that there was somebody behind him, and turned around. Leonardo. 

"Donny, what've you found?" 

Donatello sighed angrily, "Nothing of any use. This… whatever that Shredder invented is pointless! It doesn't do anything, it doesn't induce anything, it doesn't even make that big of a mess! I don't know what this is, but it isn't what made Mikey change. 

"That is," he continued, "By itself. It seems that by itself is useless, but whatever got on Mikey definatly had this stuff in it. I think that what Mikey got on him wasn't straight out of the container, but had been in the sewer, mixing with other substances first." 

"What does that mean?" 

"It means we all have to be _very_ careful. It means that we can't go through the water without protective covering. It's completely possible that there's more in the sewer, and although the chances of it mixing in just the right way with just the right stuff again are small, it's completely possible. We all have to be careful, or we'll end up like Mikey or worse." 

"How could it be worse?" 

"Well, we could always be regressed to the point before we were touched by the mutageon, then we'd have to grow up as actual normal turtles. Turtles that belong in a pet bowl." 

"Ouch." 

"No kidding." 

"So, you come in here just to talk or what?" 

"Actually I came to get you. Were going out." 

"Where and why?" 

"We're going to see if we can't find Shredders hide out. He's got Mikey." 

"No." 

"Yep." 

"Why the shell does he get all the bad luck?" 

"Probably because he's the only one we keep driving out of here by making him feel confined and angsty." 

"It was a rhetorical question." 

"Ya, I know. Now come on. We got a little brother to save." 

"Fine." He stood up and walked into the living room where Raphael was waiting for them. "But I was serious, we all have to wear protective coverings. Boots." 

"Boots?" Raphael said, "Why do we need to wear those?" 

"Because," Leonardo explain, "Donny thinks that the stuff that turned Mikey into a kid could still be mixing with the water. It's a low chance, but we could end up the same way or worse." 

"Worse?" 

"Think of a bowl, a rock, and a fake palm tree." 

"Ouch." 

"Ya. That's what I said too." 


	11. 10th Chapter

**

Little Brother

**   
_By Maikafuiniel_

* * *

  


**Chapter 10   
Bebop's and Pizza**

* * *

  
Michelangelo sat in his cage, looking around him slowly at the lab he was in. It was the first moment that he had been left alone, and he knew better then to leave the chance be. He looked to the door, his only option for escape, and wondered just where he was. 

Sliding doors and no windows? Metallic everything? 

It didn't say anything good to the small turtle, that was for sure. T either meant the Technodrome or a government building. Neither option aws something to celebrate. If he was in the Technodrome, the chance of his brothers finding him was way to small, and if they were in a government building it meant Shredder was working with the humans. 

Mickey shivered, and wished for a blanket or something. Anything really that he could grip onto. He knew he wasn't going to escape anytime soon. Shredder was the only one who had come in so far, and he hadn't been holding a key. He couldn't even go through the bars of the cage, his shell being to thick and hard already. 

The only possibly good thing about the entire situation was… well, there were two actually. First off, the guys were being so protective of his 'safety' lately that they would have noticed he was gone right away. Hopefully they would even chase him down within moments. 

The other good thing was that the Shredder didn't know he was, in fact Michelangelo. As far as he was concerned he was Giovanni. 

Mikey winced at the sound of the name, even in his own head. He hadn't been able to think of anything better at the time, but the name sounded just… wrong. It didn't fit him at all. He was eternally grateful now that his father had good taste in names. Sadly though, there was nothing he could do about it now. 

As far as Shredder or any of his minions could be concerned he was three year old Giovanni, who (as far as he could figure out from what Shredder was hinting at), was rescued from a lab by the Ninja turtles and being raised by Michelangelo. 

He was also one other thing. Hungry. 

He didn't actually expect Shredder to let him eat anything when he was here in the cage. After all, he was the prisoner. Thinking about it now, Mikey could have hit himself if it would do any good. If he hadn't of mentioned food Shredder might have fed him without any thought to it. But now that he knew Mikey was hungry and getting a bit desperate… After all, even lunch was now sitting in the sewers after he had thrown up. 

Trying to push the thoughts of hunger out of his head, and desperately trying to ignore the sound of his stomach growling, he lay down on the 'bed' and sat his precious glass beside him. Maybe, he decided, the guys would have rescued him by the time he had woken up, and he could eat like crazy at home. 

* * *

  
Bebop walked through the long corridors of the Technodrome, headphones on his ears, and quietly singing to the music. If Rocksteady were there he would have gotten a smack over the head for mutilating it, but since he wasn't… well, Bebop was going to enjoy himself. 

He held a large pizza box in his left hand, doing his best not to balance it too much to the left or right as he hopped a bit to the beat of his music. He had bought such a large pizza, not because he thought the kid could eat all of it, but because when he had been out he had missed dinner with the foot soldiers. Bebop was just about as hungry as Mikey was right now. 

When he got to the door he spun around and slid it open with his left foot, and entered. He looked at the small turtle, asleep in his cage, and felt a sudden surge of guilt. The kid hadn't done anything wrong, and yet it had been his idea to bring him here. 

Just because they couldn't find some stupid container. 

Honestly, Bebop couldn't understand Shredder sometimes. Well, really it was most of the time. He liked to speak in those big long words after all. 

He walked over to the cage and took his earphones off, dropping them onto his shoulders. With his right had now free he shook one of the bars of the cage until the turtle woke up. Bebop noticed that the little turtle was obviously hiding something. When he had woken up it looked almost as if he had recognized the warthog, then made himself look carefully confused. 

Bebop didn't think about this however. It wasn't his job to think, and he wasn't about to sprain himself trying. 

"Hey, kid! Wake up!" He said loudly, snorting as he finished the sentence. 

"Hm? …Who are you?" 

"Bebop. Got a pizza for you kid. Me and you'ze are gonna' share. The boss said you wanted Pepperoni, right?" 

"…I actually get to eat pizza when I'm here?" 

"Anythin' you want kid. The boss took a real likin' to you. So," he snorted, "Just be good and you'll be fine." 

He slowly passed a large styrofoam plate through the bars to the turtle, who was squinting at him. 

"What's with your eyes kid?" 

"Oh I… nothing," he muttered in embarrassment as he turned quickly to grab his glasses. 

He held out his plate and Bebop put a few slices there, grabbing a few for himself. He chewed slowly, watching the kid go through everything he was given. "Why you so hungry kid?" 

"I just didn't have dinner before I left. And I got hit on the head really hard, so I tossed my cookies. You know?" 

Again Bebop felt something that felt suspiciously like guilt well up inside of him. "Ah, sorry about that kid. I didn't think you waz jus' gonna' come along all quiet though." 

"That was you?" 

"Jus' doin' my job." 

"Oh." 

They both went back to eating, eyes trained carefully on one another. Bebop couldn't take the silence any longer though, and took to talking again. After all, Rocksteady wasn't talking to him right now, 'cause they had had another fight. Krang wouldn't, because he liked to have conversations with lots of big words. And Shredder… well Shredder just wasn't the conversation type. 

"So kid," 

"Don't call me that." 

"Wha?" 

"Kid. Don't call me kid." 

"You're only, what? Two? Seems you're a kid at me!" 

"I'm …three!" He said, after looking like was having an eternal debate, "And I'm not a kid. Don't call me that." 

"Well then," Bebop reasoned, "What's your name?" 

"…" 

"C'mon kid, might as well tell me. We're gonna be stuck here together for a while." 

"Uh? Why?!" 

"Shredder don't like kids much, and the foot soldiers have other things to do. I can't go back to my room 'cause me room mate and me are fightin', so I'm your sitter for now. What's your name?" 

"…Giovanni." 

"Weird name." 

"Ya?" Mikey said angrily, "And Bebop isn't?" 

"Bebop ain't my name kid, it's my nickname. My mommy wouldna called me Bebop when I was little. Get it?" 

"Oh. So… what's your _real_ name then?" 

Bebop considered telling the kid to shut up right then, but somehow… he seemed genuinely interested for some reason. They had only known each other for about five minutes, but Bebop figured that if the kid wanted to know, well, it wasn't going to do any harm to tell him. 

"You gotta' promise that if I tell ya my name, you ain't never gonna call me it! And you can't tell anybody neither! Not Shredder, or Krang, or the soldiers, or even Rocksteady!" 

Mikey held up his right hand and promised. 

"Never ever ever?" He snorted when he said this, disbelieving that he could ever actually trust anybody. 

"Never. C'mon, who am I gonna' tell here that would even _care_?" 

"…Justin." 

"Justin?" 

"Yep." 

"But… why Justin?" 

"An' what's wrong with Justin, _Giovanni_?" 

"Ouch, point taken. …I really don't like that name neither, if it helps any." 

Bebop watched the kid for a little bit longer then pointed out, "You're a lot smarter then most kids I think, ain't ya? I mean, I'm not real smart, but… usually I can outdo a three year old at least." 

"Er… ya. I'm smart, but just a bit. You know?" 

"How come? Shredder said something about a lab…" 

"Ya! Um, a lab, you know. Born there and everything… Maybe it's genetic." 

"Maybe. So if you wuz in a lab, how come you were with the turtles?" 

"You know... they just, saved me. They wanted the best for me is all. 

"Oh." 

Bebop swallowed the last of his pizza and sat back in the chair Shredder had been sitting in when he had been questioning the turtle. But as soon as he did Mikey gulped audibly. 

"You're not going to question me like Shredder, are you?" 

"Nah kid… I mean, Giovanni. I ain't good at making up questions." 

Mikey blanched at the name, but still, he couldn't bring himself to let anyone call him kid. He thought about it for a moment, thinking that as long as it was just Bebop… 

It wasn't like Bebop was his _enemy_ after all. He just, well, like he said he was just doing his job. It just happened to be on the other side of the shell was all. 

"…You can call me, I don't know, Gio or something. I don't really like the whole thing." 

"Sure," Bebop muttered. But he wasn't looking at Mikey any more, his ears were perked up and he was watching the door. 

That was when Shredder walked back into the room. 


	12. Important Notice

****

Authors Note  
From the Desk of Maikafuiniel

Man, oh man. Has it really been since _April_? Six months ago I did chapter 10 of 'Little Brother', with every intention of going on and doing even more. And then… I didn't.

My common readers know that I have a billion thoughts going through my head all at once, and I have this nasty habit of starting like, three stories at any given time. I always have every intention of continuing, and yet… for some reason, I don't. I get caught up by yet another new and shiny plot.

But I always finish my stories. I may give it like, six months in between chapters, but I always finish. It's like, a quest or something. I promised I would finish this story, and that I will.

So, I was re-reading it and my mouth was actually open in amazement. The chapters couldn't have been any longer then two pages each, which is weird because I usually do at least five. There were grammer mistakes up the ying-yang, and the spelling was hell. It looked like a five year old wrote it. But then I got to reading some of the reviews… and yet, people loved it.

So I'm starting up again. I've been doing some more… adult stories as of late. Nothing R Rated, I just mean more maturely written. _Better_ written. And I hope that's a good thing. I don't know if the chapters will be getting any longer; it's nice to have an excuse to write short stuff.

At any rate, believe it or not, I will be continuing.

I have an author alert thing I'm going to have going; you know, I mail you when it's been updated. I have several e-mails available, but those of you who don't actually have an account here are unknown to me. I know the following people (see the list below) are reading; but I don't know how to contact them. If you want to be added to the list, please leave your address.

Anyway, I'll be going now, to write!

_Maikafuiniel_


	13. 11th Chapter

Little Brother  
By Maikafuiniel

* * *

Chapter 11  
If You're Good

* * *

Shredder smiled as he watched through the two way mirror; seeing that the young turtle and Bebop were getting along far better then he could have hoped. It was unexpected, yes, but it could be very useful.

"About time," he muttered under his breath, "That god-forsaken Warthog has been nothing but trouble since he came here."

With one final glance, to make sure Giovanni was nearly finished eating his pizza, Shredder left the small room, entering the one where the two were finishing up.

"Ah," he said, his voice calm and collected, "I see you enjoyed your pizza, Giovanni?"

He glanced to the empty pizza box as if it was the first time he had seen it, and waited for the young boy to answer. After all, he was in charge here, and even if he was going to be- god forbid- nice to him, there was no way he was going to think a turtle think otherwise.

They stared at each other for a moment, until finally Giovanni turned away. "Yeah," he said slowly, "It was good. I just… don't get it."

"Don't get what?" Shredder asked innocently, "That I would feed you?"

"Well, yeah dude!" the turtle replied, "I mean, aren't I supposed to be your prisoner here or something? That _is _what the cage means, right?"

"Giovanni," Shredder said slowly as he settled himself down to face level, "You will remain in this cage so long as I feel you may be a… well, perhaps a threat would be the best term. If you promise to behave, then perhaps I'll let you have some freedom."

Michaelangelo blinked, amazed. Shredder was going to let him wander around? Free? _If this is what being a prisoner is like_, he thought to himself slowly, _It ain't so bad! Pizza and all… okay, he has to think I'm an idiot, but still! _

Turning back to Shredder, he smiled in a bright, childish way. "So, if I behave, I get out?"

"That's right."

"Can I go… anywhere?"

"Bebop will be staying with you, and of course I would hope you could answer some of my questions…" He trailed off, and Mikey knew that he was being appraised; but for what? Was Shredder trying to decide if he was worth trusting? Was he trying to decide if he would betray the confidence of his family?

"No," Mikey said simply, abandoning hopes of being able to simply walk out of the complex, "No questions."

Shredder simply stood, and smiled, leaving Mikey with a growing pit in his stomach. "Fine," he replied, "I won't ask questions."

Too confusing, was the only thought that ran through Mikey's head now, _What is he playing at? What is he expecting from me? What would a three year old do right now?_

was the only thought that ran through Mikey's head now, 

"Can I still get out?" Mikey asked, "I need to…" he trailed off, thinking manically for some reason he would need to leave; one that Shredder would accept and allow, yet still within a three year old capacity, "I need to use the potty."

He was able to drown the flush that would have invaded his face, knowing that it was a perfectly natural thing to do, and a good reason to leave the small cage.

"Bebop," Shredder said, turning to the Warthog, and giving Mikey a chance to smile without being seen, "Take young Giovanni to the washroom, and then to the training complex."

"Sure boss," the pig replied, not questioning the order as Mikey wanted to.

"What?" He said quickly, "Why would I go there?"

"Well," Shredder said with a grin, "You wan't to be trained in the ways of the ninja, don't you?"


	14. 12th Chapter

Little Brother  
By Maikafuiniel

* * *

Chapter 12  
Tracing Turtle Traces

* * *

Donny, Leo, and Raph slowly trudged through the sewers; following a device that Donny had created should just such a situation arise. Admittedly none of them had ever expected to turn into kids again; but that really wasn't the point.

"So," Leo questioned after almost a full hour of silence, "Explain how this thing works Donny?"

"Yeah," Raphael continued, "'Cause if were just gonna' be walkin' all night, somebody is gonna' get their shell kicked it; and it ain't gonna be me."

"Relax guys," Donny tried to calm the pair down, "Don't get uptight; we're going to find him. This new device is called the 'Turtle Tracer'. It follows genetic markers left by phara-"

"The simplified version Donny," Leo asked wearily, "Please."

"Well," Donny said, trying to decide how to put it, "The Turtle Tracer… traces turtles. Because we're mutants we put off a different sort of… scent then either normal turtles, or normal humans; so we're just going to follow that."

"We're following Mikey's smell?" Raphael asked with a snort, "Strange things you come up with Donny."

"Actually," he continued, "It's more his pheromones we're tracing. They're the easiest, because since we're teens we put out a lot more of that then anything else. And trying to follow a smell in the sewers really isn't that easy."

"Um, Donny?" Leo asked, "You probably thought of this and all, but… Mikey's not a teen any more, so really… wouldn't we be following his steps from a long time ago? Like, before all this happened and he got into trouble?"

Donny looked at his brother, blinking a few times as he tried to think of a reason to dispute his brothers claim; while Raphael laughed. When he finally stopped, he turned to his brothers. "Alright; so we've just wasted a couple hours. What do we do now?"

"If Shredder hurt him already," Donny was saying faintly in the background, "It'll be all my fault; I've wasted so much time!"

"Nonsense," Leo tried to calm his brother down, "It was a good idea, and better then anything else we had. We just have to come up with something different now."

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," Donny was mumbling still in the background, "How could I have been so stupid?"

"Shut up," Raphael said suddenly, looking up to a sewer opening, "There are people; they'll hear you."

All three immediately fell silent, and slowly began to back away; stopping only when Leo held out a hand. "Wait a minute," he whispered, "Did you hear that; what they're talking about?"

All three were quiet.

"Yeah," one man was saying to the other, _"I was just down by Mott and Pell; and there was this huge sound; like an earth-mover, but different, you know?" _

"So?"

"I went to check it out, see what was what, thought maybe there might be somebody I could get a wallet off of or something- and there was the huge hole in the ground! Like, going straight down! I even went and threw a rock down, to see how far it went, and I couldn't hear it hit bottom!"

"You're kiddin' me!"

"Nope; you want to go see?"

"Sure!"

one man was saying to the other, 

All three turtles were quite for a moment, digesting what they heard, until finally Donny smiled. "Guys? You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"We beat them up for being thieves?" Raph asked.

"No," Donny sighed, "That sounds like one of the machines Bebop and Rocksteady drive to get down to the technodrome! All we have to do is get some climbing equipment, and follow the hole! We'll find Mikey in no time!"

The three smiled, and waiting until the two men were gone so that they could climb out of the sewers. When that had been accomplished; they began a treck to the corner of Mott and Pell.

They were going to save their little brother.


	15. 13th Chapter

**Little Brother  
By Maikafuiniel**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 13  
The Dime Tour**

**

* * *

**Michelangelo slowly walked down hallway after hallway, trying to remember the direction they had come and went- but it was impossible. There were dozens of different directions, and whoever had built the complex must have made it a maze on purpose. 

There were no windows to explain where he was, and he was almost certain by now that he was in the technodrome. Everything was just too… metallic.

But it wasn't just the labyrinth of halls that bothered him, it was the direction that his thoughts had headed in that were worse.

He knew he had to escape, and soon; but there was so much he could do while he was here. Damage, for one thing. He could mess the computers up good and proper before he left, making it harder for Shredder to damage them when he next came up against his brothers in a fight. He knew that he wasn't an expert at using computers, but one thing he had been able to pick up from Donny was how to mess one up.

Besides that, it was obvious that whatever had been done to him wasn't something he would be able to figure out on his own- no matter how much he tried. Even Donny had been hard pressed to figure out what was going on. _Of course_, he thought to himself, _that was **before** I got kidnapped. Maybe Donny's managed to come up with something._

He knew wishful thinking when he saw it though.

Everything combined, it really did make for a good reason to stay here until the guys rescued him. He could do some damage, he might be able to get into the science labs that were no doubt abound, and maybe… well, he had fought against the ninjas that worked for Shredder enough times to know they used different types of moves.

Splinter had always taught them how to take down and incapacitate an opponent; at least until the cops were able to get down there and pick them up. The foot on the other hand, fought to win. Even if it meant killing one of the turtles, they fought to win. And so they had a wide variety of different moves they could use that Splinter had never allowed in the Dojo.

He knew that he shouldn't be wanting to learn that kind of thing, but the memory of not being allowed to even _hold_ his own weapons! It stung, deeper then he would have liked to admit.

He had always been the kidder of the group, the joker, but what nobody wanted to admit was that he had feelings too. It wasn't easy, always being the butt of every insult and joke that got passed around. And training, as hard as it was, was a way to vent off some of the frustration that he couldn't sieve off in public.

And that was gone.

Sure, this was like… well, just plain wrong. But if it meant he didn't have to give up training completely for another couple years, and maybe even learn some new moves, it wasn't something he was just going to pass up.

Having to put up with the horrible name notwithstanding.

As he continued to walk, he decided to tune back into whatever Bebop had been talking about the entire time- and nearly slapped himself at what he heard.

"And over there," Bebop continued, "That's one of the labs. You ain't allowed in there, 'ever. I went in there once, with Rocksteady, and we got in loads of trouble."

He snorted, not seeing the glazed look on the younger turtles face, and continued. "And right over there's the advance trainin' room. Shredder say's it's only for the bes', so I'm no allowed in there either.

"And right over there is where we can be, you know, lazy? 'S the lounge. You're allowed in there, but you should probably knock, just in case. Got that all?"

Mikey nodded despondently, though Bebop didn't seem to notice, and he pointed to another door. "That there's the bathroom. Can you use it by yourself, 'cause I don't know much 'bout kids, and if you get hurt Shredder is gonna-"

Mikey shook his head quickly, trying to pretend he wasn't embarrassed by the very notion of the very thought of Bebop helping him in the bathroom- pint size version or not. Locking the door behind him carefully, he turned to the mirror.

He watched himself carefully for a moment, staring at his reflection through his glasses, and came to his decision. If he **_had _**to be a three year old… he might as well make the most of it.


	16. 14th Chapter

Little Brother  
By Maikafuiniel

* * *

Chapter 14  
Meeting Sensei

* * *

Mikey came out of the bathroom, his hands soaked with cold water from the sink, and smiled. "Done now," he said simply, trying again for a three year olds dialogue, "We're not going to go back to the cage now, are we?"

Bebop looked at him carefully for a moment, before shrugging his large shoulders. "Don't know," the warthog replied, snorting once, "Shredder never gave me no other instructions or nothin'. Figured I'd drop you'se off in the dojo or sumthin'. Everybody knows you're here, so I'll let em figure it out, kay?"

Mikey shrugged, trying to get across the point that he didn't really care either way. In truth he was getting rather restless- he hadn't done much since he had been turned, and that felt like _days_ ago now. He wasn't quite sure about the decision he had made though; about letting Shredder and the other ninja's here teach him.

On one level, it felt like he was getting even with his brothers and father, who had been so unfair to him. On another, he knew that all his sensei wanted was the best for all of them.

But he doesn't understand, Mikey thought to himself with a frown, _I mean, it's not like he could if he wanted to, but still. So unfair._

Mikey thought to himself with a frown, 

With another shrug he continued to walk behind Bebop as he was led to the dojo. In the end of all things, it was hardly like he was stopping anybody from rescuing him. If they came, he would go, first chance. If some really obvious escape route came up, he would go, first chance. Plus, it was hardly a good idea to go spouting off about who he really was.

And with that, Bebop stopped at one of the metal doors. He pressed a few buttons into the keypad on the outside, far above Mikey's head, making it slide open.

Mikey's jaw dropped. It was huge, for any dojo, let alone the one at home. There were four rows of people, ten in each row, all in the exact same positions doing the exact same moves. And in the front of the room there were three separate masters facing the group, in the same positions.

Shocking him, Bebop suddenly yelled out, "Yo, this almost dun?"

Everybody in the room, including Mikey, snapped their heads towards Bebop, making him blush a little. The three masters watched him for a moment carefully, before turning back to the group with little more then a roll of their eyes skyward. The master standing in the centre made a sweeping motion, signalling that the class was over, and bowed carefully.

Everybody else bowed back, and then filed out. Each one giving the warthog an angry look as they passed through the doorway, since he had interrupted their class.

Once everybody was gone except the centre master, he came up to the door and knelt down to face level- surprising Mikey when he smiled widely. "And you," he said, with an obviously American accent, "Would be Giovanni, correct?"

Mikey nodded wordlessly, still not taking a step into the room until the master swept his hand in the enter motion. "Come in, please. Shredder has talked to me about you; I hadn't expected you for a day or so, but I'm pleased you could find your way to my dojo."

"Well," Mikey said, a bit awed to be talking to the ninja master in charge of training all the foot soldiers (as Shredder was obviously too busy doing other things to do the job himself anymore), "You know, um, Bebop brought me here."

He wanted to hit himself over the head when he realized how stupid he sounded, but decided not to worry about it. To this guys eyes, he was just a nervous three year old. Who really cared how he acted, so long as he wasn't colouring on the walls or something, right?

"Yeah," Bebop said, before turning back to the turtle, "I'm gonna' actually go find Rocksteady, alright kid? You…" he trained off, obviously not knowing what to say to a child, before settling on, "Be good for this guy here, okay? He could probably beat up the Shredder, and that ain't no easy thing to do, see?"

Mikey nodded once, feeling oddly alone once Bebop had gone, closing the door behind him. He turned back to the master, and waited for him to say something. He didn't have to ask long.

"Alright," he started, "First the introductions. My name is Tobias, but when we're in this room you call me master, or sensei, alright?"

Mikey nodded, knowing that he was going to stick with the word master. Nobody could ever replace his father as the one and only sensei he had ever had- no matter how angry he was at the large rat for the moment.

"Now," Tobias continued, "I don't know what your uncles have taught you, if anything, but tomorrow, when I start teaching you, you're going to have to bow when you come into the room, alright? And I'll bow back to you when you're done. It's a sign of respect."

Mikey had to fight not to tune the man out already, what with him explaining things that he had known for a decade already. Instead he settled himself with nodding again.

"You're lessons are going to start early in the morning," the man continued, oblivious to Mikey's lack of caring, "About six in the morning in fact. I'll wake you up myself, unless I'm busy. Then Shredder, Bebop, or Rocksteady will have that privilege."

"Alrighty," Mikey replied, bored stiff already, "But just so you know and everything, I already know most of this stuff."

"Well," Tobias said, smiling, "We'll just see how much you know tomorrow, all right?"

And with that, he decided it was time to lead Mikey back to his cell.


	17. Important Notice

__

A Little Back-Ground Information:  
It has come to my attention that some of my readers are of the newer generation, and have never had the privilege of watching the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. And so I thought I might give a little information to you, just so that you know who and what I'm talking about.

#1: April and Casey do not have a 'thing'. No thing. Never. Erma might have, another character you've never met, but then she was always going for Norman. …Poor screen-stealing asshole. Nothing to do with the story, I know, I just had to comment.

#2: Shredder is not a robot. Do you have any idea how moronic the very idea is? Seriously. His real name is Oroku Saki (name is probably spelled wrong however). He works with Krang, the only and original brain walking around in the stomach of a fake body. They work in the technodrome, hundreds of miles under the ground with the magma and everything, trying to take over the world. How to explain Krang? He's one of the most sarcastic and hilarious bad-guys I've ever seen.

#3: Bebop and Rocksteady are the two teenage punks who were used for test subjects when Shredder was trying to create mutants to battle the turtles. It didn't work out right, because frankly, they were more idiotic then even Shredder realized. They're petty thieves, they even stole a kids tricycle in one episode. Bebop is a human warthog hybrid, and Rocksteady is a Rhino human hybrid. They both have Brooklyn accents, and way too many piercing. Especially for the 80's. (I have a personal view that they're gay and having a relationship, but obviously they never said anything like that on t.v.)

#4: The only aliens that the turtles have ever come across are these tiny little people who look a lot like humans, but drive around in a floating pink car and have very odd hair. Again, nothing to do with the story, I just hate how sci-fi the new version has gotten.

#5: Professor Stockman. What to say? My god, what a loser. Firstly, he was never black. Secondly, he's never lost any body parts. Thirdly, he's not a complete loser. He did manage to capture Donny once, though it was with one of Donny's own inventions. Did anybody else see the time freezing episode, where they pause Donny in mid kick while floating in the air? I love it… loser, I know, but it was cool. On a side note, he was also a pale guy with a retreating blond hair line. …And got turned into a giant fly. ß this actually has important later on. Not the fly part, but I am using the original Doctor Stockman in this story.

One last thing… does anybody remember that cute energy saving commercial they would play after the episodes, where Mikey accidentally leaves the fridge open? For some reason, I always loved that…


	18. Interlude

**Little Brother  
By Maikafuiniel**

**

* * *

**

**Interlude  
Roomies**

**

* * *

**

Bebop stood in front of his bedroom mirror, angrily trying to get the gel that forced his hair to stay up to do his job. He tried to ignore the ranting of his room-mate and so called friend, but it was really getting to be a little bit hard."Why doncha wanta' do nuthin' fun anymore?" Rocksteady raged from his place by the bed.

Bebop ignored him. Rocksteady had been getting on his nerves for the last few weeks, ever since the pair had gotten themselves kicked out of a club for, well, kicking. That and shoving, punching, and random insanity. It had been fun at the time, but Rocksteady had blamed him for them getting kicked out.

Of course, it hadn't been his fault, but Rocksteady wasn't about to listen to him.

"And whot's with that turtle freak?" The rhino continued, "I know Shredder gun don and ordered you to watch the little freak, but that don't mean you have to spend all your fricken time down'dare!"

"Just followin' what the boss-man said," Bebop muttered, before snorting loudly, "What do you care anyway?" he asked, sincerely curious, "Not like we can actually go anywhere since he went and the mutation thing- and actually expect to be able to stays' there."

Rocksteady didn't say anything, but gave him a glare and quickly left.

The panel of glass that once called the door home fell to the ground with a crash, but Bebop didn't hear it.

Leonardo grabbed onto the rope that held them all securely to the top of the tunnel with only a little bit of fear. Donny had reassured them it was safe, but ever since the tunnel had gotten nearly horizontal… well, it wasn't as if he would actually ever _voice _his concerns.

He was fearless Leonardo; and he knew exactly what everybody expected of him. Perfection. Of course, it wouldn't stop Raphael from getting on his case about anything and everything, but it was true none the less.

Donny was the smart one. Raphael was the angry one. He was the leader. He had to lead.

But shell, he _hated _heights.

Don't look down. He ordered himself sternly, _Don't look down. Calm breath. Calm mind. Centered self. And don't dare look down._

He ordered himself sternly, 

His rock slid on a rock, sending in tumbling into the black abyss below them. It had already happened several times, and the trio of turtles had stopped stopping to make sure that nobody heard them every time a rock tumbled.

What scared Leonardo wasn't the black abyss below him.

What scared him was that they had been climbing for four hours now, and he had yet to hear a single stone hit bottom.

It was even unnerving Raphael, though he didn't know it.

Raphael gripped the rope that was hitched around his belt a little tighter- not for the first time since their climb had begun.

It wasn't fear of the emptieness below him that made him afraid. No, that kind of thing never phased him. What frightened him was that they had been climbing for so long. So long. What could have been done to their little brother in mere minutes; let alone the length of time the Shredder had his greasy hands on their little brother?

Little being the important word.

He knew Mikey was good at what he did- you didn't survive trying to be a hero unless you had some talent. But as he was? The way everything was panning out, it was enough to make his heart speed up just enough.

To make his hands grip the rope just that much tighter.

For his eyes to scan the darkness just that much more.

Hang on Mikey.

Of course, neither of these fears matched up to Donny's- logical mind as his was.

Because he knew that no matter what was happening, no matter what was below them, they had to reach bottom soon.

They were quickly running out of rope.


	19. 15th Chapter

Little Brother  
By Maikafuiniel

* * *

Chapter 15  
Gleaming an Insight in the Imperceptibility of Children  
_Or…_  
Kids for Dummies

* * *

He was sitting down next to his brothers, all four of them lined up on the couch as they listened to their father lecture them on how they were not supposed to go topside without his permission- and he was trying not to cry.

It was hard- harder, he knew, then it should have been. Donny, as good a son as he was, already seemed lost in his own head, thinking about some new thing he had read about or some new creature he had discovered. Leonardo was taking it all in as though their father was spouting perfect knowledge, and he took it readily and with a smile. Never mind, Mikey thought with an angry grimace, that this was **supposed **to be a punishment. Raphael meanwhile just looked bored, as though nothing Splinter said would make a real difference.

Maybe it wouldn't.

From where he stood, Mikey was sure he was the only one who was honestly upset that his brothers had broken the rules. It had been Raph's idea of course; it always was, and he wondered not for the first time how he fell for it.

Raph had said that there had been something up there, though he couldn't even remember what it was anymore, and that all he had to do was open the manhole and go get it. Splinter would never find out, he had said. Nobody would. And how else would he prove that he would **ever** be a ninja if he never took chances? Always followed the rules.

Leo and Donny had goaded him on as well, always ganging up on him since he was the youngest. They thought it was funny that he was going up there against their fathers wishes- though to be fair Leo did seem a little off about it.

So up he had gone, topside, for the first time in his life. Alone, surrounded by wide open spaces that he could have never dreamed about… There were things moving everywhere, and he was so glad they had chosen an alley to make him use… if any of them saw him… humans.

He had seen them on the telivision of course; he saw a lot of things on the box, but this was new… they were all right **there**! Right there! He could go up to any single one of them. He could go right up to that stand over there, holding more then enough food to keep his family going for a week…

And then something grabbed his foot, and he was once again forced into the sewer and away from the world he had only just experienced for an amazing first time.

"Michelangelo!" the angry, quiet voice of his father had wrung out, and he looked to see his brothers standing quietly, ashamed, behind him, "What do you think you are **doing**?"

"I jus' wanted to see outside," he had said slowly, "And-"

"Your brothers told you to," his father had replied angrily, "I know this already. What I do not understand is why you and your brothers continusly find it in yourselves to turn away from the rules for your protection I've given you! If I hadn't found you when I had-"

And it had gone on from there, all the way back to the lair, and long into the night. Mikey knew he had done wrong, but it just wasn't fair! His brothers had all gone up with his father at some point or other, but here he had to stay. Alone and bored, wondering what was up there for real.

And it was amazing.

He wanted… no, he needed to see that again. To see people again.

Real, living people.

He knew how silly it sounded, how stupid it sounded. None of his brothers were obsessed with the humans and their ways, and Splinter most certainly didn't want him wandering around just for the sake of seeing them be, well, them. But he knew that it couldn't just be him.

That he wasn't a freak. Not really. No matter what Raph said when he thought he wasn't listening in.

And as his father droned on, he remembered what they looked like. The ones his size. The children. Short little humans that were just a little bit chubby, with different colours of hair on their heads, cut in loads of different ways. Some of them wore glasses like him, and some of them didn't like his brothers. Noses, eyes, mouths… like on the television, but real.

Touchable.

That's what he wanted, he realized, was to be able to touch one of them.

Now he knew he was insane. …But that was okay too.

And he made himself a promise, that no matter how scared he was, no matter what time it was, no matter what his brothers said or threatened, he would go back up there next chance he got. And until then, drawing them would have to suffice.

Mikey jolted awake from the memory- one of his earliest he could remember. His eyes snapped open, and for a moment he was confused as to where he was. Cold metal below him, and bars surrounding him. A pair of glasses sitting beside the bed, and something… somebody standing there, in the dark.

"Bebop," he said slowly, "Hi."

"Heya' kid," the warthog said slowly, "Didn't mean ta wake youse up or nothin'."

Mikey shrugged simply, confused at the mans behaviour. Normally he would just assume the other mutant was a crazy baddie, and it didn't matter what kind of weird behaviour he showed, because he was evil. Now however, he was realising (however little he felt he needed to) on the older man. Food, water, it didn't matter. He just didn't want to be stuck in this cage for much longer, and Bebop was the only person (thing) that had been remotely nice to him.

Well, there was Shredder, but the evil tin can thought he was not only an idiot, but a naïve on.

"What time is it?" the little turtle asked, "Is it time for training?"

He didn't want to admit it, even to himself, but he was definitely looking forward to this kind of learning. Just doing something physical was going to be a blessing, and if he ended up learning something new in the process… well, that was just going to be a plus. Add in the mooching he was going to do off Shredder, and it all equalled ninja, pizza, and some good times while he waited for rescue.

"About five," the warthog replied, "Rocksteady… I told ja' about him- my roomie. We had a bit of a fight, so I jus' figured I'd come on down and see hows you were doin'."

Mikey stared at him, a bit awed out that this was Bebop. His enemy. A warthog who really was quite nice, polite (if you didn't count the horrible grammer), and nice enough. Sensitive too, if a fight with his roomie was enough to keep him awake until five in the morning.

It was weird.

They stood like that for about an hour, neither of them breaking the gaze that seemed to somehow work it's way into their short conversation- until finally Bebop brought his hand up and put it into an inside pocket of his vest.

Mikey tensed for a moment- but Bebop only pulled out a pack of cards. "Um," he said slowly, not knowing how to phrase this, "Know you're only three and all.. But since you're so smart anyways… youse don't know how to play cards?"

For a moment Mikey almost laughed, until he realized just how serious Bebop was. About the cards, about just hanging out with somebody else, he didn't know. But Bebop was serious about it. Keeping up the three year old cherade, he nodded. "Go fish?" he asked, only entertaining the thought of what would happen if he told Bebop he could play poker would do.

Bebop broke into a large smile, and snorted loudly, surprising the turtle. "Youse can even go first."

_Meanwhile  
_Krang slowly smiled as he looked on through the television screens- the new camera's were working perfectly, and he had known about the turtles the second they had started on down the cavern.

It was really quite funny, he mused, that there were only three of them climbing.

He laughed loudly- as you see, Krang was quite a bit smarter then Shredder gave him credit for. After all, he _was_ a brain. There really wasn't much that could slip past him.

…The only question was whether he would tell his metal henchmen about who Giovanni _really _was.

…

…

…

Nah.

Where would the fun in _that _be?


	20. 16th Chapter

Little Brother  
By Maikafuiniel

* * *

Chapter 16  
"You're only the badguy if you don't honestly believe in what you're doing."

Mikey laughed at something Bebop had said- and smiled largely as he called out another set of cards he knew the warthog would have. Sure, he had been coming to like the guy a little… just a little of course, seeing as he was the bad guy and all, but it had almost shocked him into a heart attack when he realized just how much he was enjoying his company.

They had played what he had thought to be just a few games before Tobias had come in, claiming that it was already six in the morning. They had been chatting about nothing, playing cards, for an hour. No fighting, no rude comments, no jumping up for food, just a general good time with general good company.

That was something he hadn't even been able to master with Leo or Raph after almost two decades. And now with his enemy… so, yeah. He had almost had a good heart attack.

The only reason I didn't, he decided, _Is that this body is probably too young for that kind of thing._

Tobias had opened his cell, and brought him back to the training room that he had been introduced in earlier. There was a class going on already, so he was quietly lead to the back of the room where there was a number of different punching bags and mats all set up and ready to go.

"Do you know anything about stances?" Tobias asked him softly, trying to keep his voice from interrupting the other students.

"Some," Mikey replied, trying not to let loose the knowledge that he knew quite a few- something that was almost impossible for a turtle of his 'age'.

"Let's see something basic then," Tobias had requested, "If your uncle has shown you one, or your other family."

It was easy enough to fall into position, and Mikey held it for only a moment while the older man studied him. "No, no, no," he suddenly said, a little put off- and Mikey both curious and kind of insulted. He had, after all, gotten the stance perfect. He _knew_ this stuff.

There wasn't a whole lot of things he could call himself great in, but he was- had been- one heck of a ninja. "This is wrong," Tobias said, "Who taught you this?"

"Splinter!" Mikey replied, a little angry, "I know this. This is how it's done. This is how I was taught to do it."

For a moment he wondered if he was being childish, but decided that he really didn't much care. The fuzzy feelings of the morning had all but worn off, and he was ready to go back to his family.

This was a _stupid_ plan.

Tobias shook his head slowly. "I suppose it makes sense- he would have had to teach you an adaptive version of ninjitsu…"

"Adaptive?" Mikey asked, curious again.

Taking his curiosity wrong, the trainer explained, "A different version. A stance that he probably made up. Something much like the original, the right one, but altered because he isn't human and therefore can't move like a human. Not only that, but he's teaching more non-humans to move with non-human moves. And he had to teach them things that they would be able to do, that he couldn't. Shell spins for example- I've seen them done."

"What are you talking about?" Mikey asked faintly.

"Well, he couldn't have taught his sons how to move like they're supposed to, because he can't move like they're supposed to, you see Giovanni?" Tobias explained again, in a more childish way- something akin to how Don would talk when explaining how something worked.

"He was trying to teach you something that he wasn't _made _to do. Something _you _weren't made to do. He probably tried his best, I'm sure, and obviously they're fairly well trained ninja's…"

"So what?" Mikey asked, "What does that mean _now_?"

"It means that I'm going to teach you how to do this the right way," Tobias said, "We have equipment here that will study your body. The way it moves, and works. Then we can set up computer simulations of how you should best be moving around when doing ninjitsu, and I'll help you copy and learn them. By the time you're doing training for a week, you'll have gotten farther then your uncles could have done in two months at your age, because we'll know _why _you can or can't do things."

Mikey blinked, blinked again, and blinked a three time.

This was not what he had expected at all.

_  
Back at the Cell_  
Bebop slowly picked up the scattered cards that had been left lying about the room when Giovanni had left with his sensei, and he considered what was going on. It had weirded him out, what he had done, and left him good and confused.

He was used to being confused; that wasn't the problem. It was the fact that he really didn't know if he was doing the right thing.

Have a fight with your friends, and go to your enemies? He used to beat people up for things like that. You just… weren't supposed to go to the other side like that. It made you a rat.

And sure, he wasn't a teenage mutant ninja turtle- but he was family.

Was that enough?

Did it make him a rat?

That was when the sirens started going off, the bells and whistles. Bebop poked his head into the hallway, and frowned at the sight of foot clan members running around wildly, trying to get their heads on straight.

Didn't they know how simple a fight was supposed to be?

Grabbing the gun from his waist belt, he took a quick run and made for his room, where Rocksteady was waiting for him.

"Was' goin' on?" He asked the Rhino, curious.

"Them Turtles are on the base," Rocksteady explained, "Shredder want's 'em caught."

Bebop frowned, but didn't comment.

Gio might be falling into the category of 'friend', but that sure as heck didn't make him a turncoat.


	21. 17th Chapter

Little Brother  
By Maikafuiniel

* * *

Chapter 17  
Yes- There is a Book Called Evil Overlord for Beginners

_About Fifteen Minutes Earlier  
_Though Leonardo would never really lose the position of leader among the family of turtles, he knew when to step aside. Donny was in front of him, looking as the technodrome, his hand feeling the metal as though it was going to share a secret with him, carefully guarding his expression.

"Well?" Raph asked, the first to get restless, "Do you see a way in?"

Donny took one last glance at the large machine, and turned to his brother. "I see several," he replied evenly, "But most of them would mean turtle soup- if you look carefully enough you can see dust coming out of the grates, so we know there are fans in there. Not surprising as they would have boiled alive without proper ventilation."

"Anything else?" Leo asked, curious, "Maybe a door their not guarding? A window?"

Donny stared at him, an obvious smile trying to be smothered on his face. "Leo," he said slowly, "This isn't a downtown building. This is the technodrome. It's filled with alternate dimension beings, were hundreds of feet under the earth, surrounded by molten lava. Do you think this is really the kind of place where they just leave an entrance wide open?"

Leo shrugged, completely unembarrassed by his question. "You never know," was his casual response.

Donny turned back to the large machine, and frowned. "No," he replied, "There are a lot of places we could use to get _in- _but we'd just be walking straight into something so silly there would be no point. Like a giant trash compactor or something. They always have giant trash compactors. Never incinerators, which would of course be superheated at all times. Not of this nonsense about regular intervals of fire going through the grating at predictable intervals- because no," he kept ranting sarcastically, "That would be intelligent. And we wouldn't want that, now would we?"

"Now that we're done our evil overlord lesson for the day," Raphael said shortly with a laugh, "Do we have a way in, or not?"

"It's rule number sixty three!" Donny defended himself, "I got bored one day, and made a list. Then I had to destroy it, because if Shredder ever got his hands on it that would be the end of us."

"Dude," Raph continued, "You know you're crazy- right?"

"Never a thing as a genius without a little bit of crazy combined," Donny quoted, "At any rate, we're not going to be able to sneak in unless we can come up with a way to get through the reinforced walls."

"Alright," Leo said, "We go by the old standby."

"And that would be?"

Raphael lifted his sai with a smile. "We beat some skulls in."

_Regular Time Frame  
_Tobias had stopped the lesson early- apparently he needed to talk to some of the scientists before they could use the computers, and there was really no point in trying to teach him something that the older man felt he shouldn't be trying to learn until he could do so 'properly'.

Mikey was still a little insulted, both for himself, and for his father and brothers… but he really couldn't help but be curious as well. Really, it made a bit of sense. They were turtles learning a human fighting style from a giant rat.

There had to be a few things that had gotten mixed up and turned around in the process- no matter how hard their father had tried to teach them everything properly. Because after all, ninjitsu was about balance- and nothing in their life had been balanced.

Tobias had been walking him back to his room when the alarms started going off, but instead of being abandoned in the hall by the ninja master, he had been picked up so he could get him to his room faster.

They had turned a corner on the way back to his room, and had almost run straight into Rocksteady and Bebop who were heading in the other direction- probably towards the fighting.

"Why youse little-" the Rhino had ground off in anger, picking him right up off the ground by the arm, but before he could do anything Bebop had quickly reached out and taken the small turtle from his friend.

"I'll get him to his room," Bebop said, "Don't worry's about it; 'kay?"

"We gotta' go fight dem!" Rocksteady had replied, shocked at the thought of Bebop going off without him in the midst of a fight.

Bobop slowly put Mikey back on the ground, softly, much to Mikey's surprise, and turned back to his roomie. "We can't let him jus' wander da' halls," Bebop tried to explain, "Shredder will kill us, and youse know it. I jus' wanna' put him somewhere safe, until the fighting is over. Get it?"

The Rhino snorted loudly, and gave the Warthog an angry glare. "Fine," he muttered, "But make it fast."

He leaned against the wall to wait, still giving both Mikey and Bebop long, hard stares as Bebop led him off to another room.

"Why aren't we going back to my room?" Mikey asked, not especially wanting to go back, but not wanting to go anywhere new and terrifying either.

"Were bein' attacked- we have a safe room, see? For the scientists and dem' people who are too important to get demselves killed. Don't know how to fight. Youse 'ill be stayin' dare."

Mikey shrugged, and decided to just go with it. Who knew what kind of freaky monsters Shredder had managed to get angry at him.


	22. 18th Chapter

Little Brother  
By Maikafuiniel

* * *

Chapter 18  
"See this big dot? It shall hereby be named, 'rock'. And this one will be called 'Hard Place'. Now see this tiny, fragile, delicate thing in between them? That would be us."

They had only managed to get about three steps into the tecnodrome when they were attacked- and what a tree steps they were. One step: the had broken through the three feet of steel doors that would normally only open if you had a pass card (thanks mostly to Donny, and his weird chemical experiments- though to be honest, Raphael _did_ kind of want to ask Don why he had been inventing metal melting material.

Step two, they had managed to walk right on through the detectors that sounded off alarms. Loud, blaring alarms that made the world seem like it was going to explode at any possible moment- worse, one of the speakers letting loose with the blaring noise was right above them.

Step three, foot clan ninjas had started coming at them from all sides, pressing in on them as they struggled to catch the three ninja turtles. The fight was quick- all three turtles focusing mainly on kicking and punching instead of their weapons, what with such close proximity to their opponents.

One managed to get a punch into Raphael's face, only serving to enrage the already red turtle, while another decided to fight dirty and managed a kick into Leonardo's groin. It was tougher then it should have been- the turtles had always fought in a quartet, each of them used to having three brothers ready to back them up. But because of Mikey's absence, each had to focus more on themselves then each other, leaving their family with no back up what so ever.

The only one who seemed to be fighting with the same zeal as ever was Donny. On some level, he had always been more of a pacifist and care giver rather then a fighter, and as many fights as they had been in, he had always stood a little apart when it came down to blood letting. The others didn't begrudge him this, he had his own way.

And right now they needed all the help they could get.

Unfortunatly it was about to get worse. Through the battle there had been no end to the number of foot soldiers that Shredder could throw at them- but when the number started to dwindle suddenly, Leo knew something was up. They hadn't been fighting _that _well. In fact, they had been fighting rather badly compared to what they were used to. There was no way they could have won the battle already.

That was when Shredder himself passed through what was left of the foot ninjas still fighting for their master.

"Turtles," he hissed through his metal mask, "What a pleasant surprise! Though to be polite, you should have called before dropping in…"

Ignoring their enemies taunts, Raphael kicked at one of the foot ninjas that had tried to attack him, and turned to Shredder. "Give him back, bucket head!"

Shredder tilted his head, just a little bit, as though he were honestly considering giving back their little brother. Finally however, he said simply, "No."

The battle resumed again, each of the turtles fighting for their own lives as Shredder joined in. Finally, much to their anger, they heard Leo call out, "Retreat, guys! We can save him later, but only if we survive today!"

He hated being the leader sometimes; having to make these decisions… leaving their team mates behind… but like the quote said, _'He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day.'_

It wasn't honourable… it wasn't the way of the ninja. Not really. But it wasn't like they had a force like Shredder's to back them up should they fall in battle. He could reclaim any lost honour later, when he saved Mikey.

Donny was already off and running when he heard Leo's instructions, less caring about honour and more caring about that vent space he had just spotted near the top of the technodrome…

Rapael let out a growl, and for a moment Leo was worried he was going to have to go back to the battle and drag him away. Finally though, he too was off and running. He was just too worried about what horrers they were putting Mikey through to have himself killed before he could save his brother…

_Meanwhile_  
Mikey laughed loudly as one of the scientists explained to him just how 'realistic' they had made Krang's mechanical body- and just how 'unrealistic' it could be in certain circumstances as well. On some level he wondered just what they thought they were doing, tell a three year old this kind of thing, but decided he didn't care.

He would rather be in here, after all, then fighting some freak dimensional monsters.


	23. 19th Chapter

Little Brother  
By Maikafuiniel

* * *

**Chapter 19  
From Whence He Came**

Mikey sat in the small room with the other scientists for what seemed to be _hours_- but was apparently only about twenty minutes. He should have known how long it would take, he knew, seeing as he had taken part in battles against the Shredder numerous times… but he was just so _bored_ by the time he was finally able to leave.

Tobias had insisted that this would be the best time to go down to the science labs and get him looked at, seeing at the attack had messed up the class schedules and what not that he would have otherwise been performing.

"Alright," Tobias said with a smile, "this is it."

He opened the door to the lab, and Mikey's jaw dropped open like a bundle of bricks- it wasn't like the labs they had run into randomly while fighting the Shredder- this was a room so massive it had to be ten times larger then the lair… contraptions and technology he would never really recognize hung from the ceiling and walls. Things that sounded like they had motors, some of them covered in flashing lights and beeping buttons jutted right out of the floor.

Robots moved about the room on their own accord, making Mikey wonder exactly what they were doing… "If Donnie were here," he whispered quietly, "He would have a heart attack."

"Donnie?" Tobias asked, "One of your uncles?"

"Yeah," Mikey replied, "He's the techno nut… he would love this place."

Tobias smiled silently, and asked, "What about your other uncles?"

Mikey turned to the taller man, looking up carefully as he considered how he should answer- and decided that any three year old who didn't say a word about his family during his kidnapping is too obviously a plant. "Well, Leo is the leader, and Raph is kinda' the violent one…"

"And the fourth?"

Mikey blinked, before starting. He had totally forgotten- "Um, yeah… my uncle Mikey… he's, you know, the party guy. Loves a good time."

"And he was the one protecting you?"

Mikey shook his head, trying to dispel the conversation. Looking around the room again, he missed the glint in Tobias's eyes. After all, one didn't get into Shredders or Krangs ranks by _actually_ being a nice guy.

"I wonder where they are?" The human asked, "I mean, they usually respond so quickly to Shredders attacks- I would have thought you'd be rescued by now."

Mikey shrugged, though the comment stung. He had been here for days now, and really Tobias was right… there had to be something wrong. The little voice in the back of his head said something about them thinking he was useless- that had been the start of this whole debacle after all…

Before the nasty thoughts could continue to circulate in his head, however, Tobias grabbed a strange looking hand-held device from one of the nearby tables. "This is a scanner," he explained, "I'm going to run this around your entire body, and tomorrow the computers will tell us what kind of stances and moves will be best for you- understand?"

Mikey nodded, and smiled. Yep, Donnie would have had a heart attack.

_One Hour Later_  
Shredder stood quietly, watching as one of the classes attempted to get back on their feet after having been defeated by their teacher, but turned when the door opened to admit Tobias Gris. One of the best fighters he had, and the one he had assigned to the young Giovanni.

Taking the hint, Shredder moved out to the hall and closed the door behind him as to not inturrupt the class behind it. "What have you learned?" he said, straight to the point.

"I've taken his scans- the next time you fight the turtles, master, we'll have all their information. Where their blind spots are likely to be, what ways to force them to move as to slow them down or even hurt themselves, everything you need to know about them physically, we'll know."

"Good- and the turtle?"

"Giovanni, sir. He's been responded to the thought of classes quite happily… but he's not like any three year old I've ever met, sir, and I'm a father of five."

"How so?"

"He seems to know who we are, what we stand for, and yet doesn't care. Almost as if he's putting on an act, but for what I can not understand. He acts like… He acts like he thinks a youngster is _supposed _to act, rather then how he wants to. There is no toddler on this earth, however, that doesn't do exactly what he wants to- especially after the removal of his parents and guardians."

"I see…"

"There is, master, a plus…"

Shredder gave him a long look, before raising one eyebrow in question. "Pray tell, what might that be?"

"He's starting to doubt his family, master. Nobody has told him yet that those who attacked were his uncles, so now he's questioning just why they haven't come for him. If you include the thought that we're helping him to become a ninja, and have good food for him whenever he asks… I do believe, master, that his loyalties could be swayed if we were very careful."

While Shredder knew it was possibly to trick a child into giving up information, he really hadn't thought of anything long term with Giovanni- it was an interesting development, that was for sure…

But combined with the fact that there were only three turtles in the last attack…

Oroku Saki was not a stupid man. He knew something was going on here, and he just had to figure out what it was. Having his own turtle, however, was something he could work on right _now_.

Smiling, he waved Tobias away.

Interesting developments indeed.


	24. 20th Chapter

Little Brother  
By Maikafuiniel

Authors Note: Hey there folks! Alright- so I'm on Chapter 20. Wow. You know, this was originally only going to be like, five chapters. But like every other story I write, I have all these ideas that have incredibly long and intricate endings- lol, see 'Todds Troubles' Part 1 for details. (Originally a drabble, it turned into a full length story, 100 chapters on part one alone)

I've decided to turn this story into a trilogy. No, the first part isn't over yet. It's just, I had this great idea this morning, and now I can't get it out again.

Remember though, you might have noticed I'm a slow updater… and I'm going back to University on the 7th, as well as SCUBA lessons on the 30th, and medical appointments out the ying yang. I'm not going to say updates will be as slow or fast as ever, but remember: this story will one day be completed.

Note that this idea might go out the window in time, when another idea pokes it's way into my head. At any rate, the meat of my note: However slow the updates come on this story, it **will** keep going.

* * *

**Chapter 20  
**_"So, they say you got to grow up twice."  
"Yep."  
"What was that like?"  
"I fixed every mistake I made in my first life, saved all my money, and married the woman I loved."  
"Really?"  
"Yeah.But there was a downside."  
"Like what?"  
__"I made new mistakes, saved all my money, and married the woman I loved."_

_Next Day  
_Leo groaned slowly as he pulled himself up from his bed- the fight yesterday had gotten to all of them- it hadn't seemed any worse then any other fight they had gotten into before, but the fact that they were a turtle short had made the bruises feel just that much worse. On a normal day, he would have thought of it as a lesson…

Today he just wanted to go back to sleep.

He could hear Raph snoring soundly in his own bed, quite loudly too if he could be heard all the way in Leo's room, and like always Donny's room was as silent as the dead. He wondered how his brother could be so still when asleep, but decided it was probably a good thing.

Normally right now he would have already been able to hear Mikey in the kitchen, the scent of eggs, bacon, pancakes and whatever else already heavy on the air. Though Leo was the type to get up early for practice, Mikey had always been an early riser. The simple fact was that he had too much undirected energy to deal with- and he didn't seem overly interested in directing it to an early morning practice with his oldest brother.

Instead he would cook breakfast for the family, and do a little cleaning on the side. Not that he would admit it of course, but his brother hated cooking in a messy kitchen. He preferred to make the mess himself, and leave it up to his brothers to clean as 'payment' for the meal.

Slowly Leo dragged himself from the bed, knowing that no such meal would be forthcoming for a while now; the last few days each turtle had cooked their own meals, not thinking about the others simply because they'd had a system that had been working for fifteen years now.

Knowing that they had to get some new system going until Mikey came back (and who knew how long it would take until he was even tall enough to reach the stove again) Leo began to pull out the ingredients for oatmeal. It wasn't quite a Mikey's breakfast standard, but it was hot, and filling.

It was only five minutes later that Donnie walked into the kitchen, obvious bruising on his face made him look like he'd had a horrible nights sleep. "That for you?" He asked tiredly, "Or all of us?"

"Everyone," Leo replied.

And they fell silent as they ate their oatmeal, noticing not for the first time in the last three days just how much dead space Mikey's jokes and conversation made up.

_Meanwhile_  
Mikey lay back on his small cot, trying to ignore the fact that he was in a small cage for yet another morning. How he wanted to just leave… he missed his brothers. He missed Splinter. He missed the lair. …And he was missing his Saturday morning cartoons, which just ranked.

It had to be almost seven o'clock before Bebop came into the room with a tray of cereal and juice, surprising the young turtle. He had been awake for a while, but had always figured that Bebop and Rocksteady were the types to get up at noon.

"Morning," Mikey said through the bars.

"G'Mornin'," Bebop replied, setting the tray down, "Youse sleep well after yesterday?"

"Sure," Mikey replied, "Never better- on that note, about the cage…"

Bebop shrugged, but there was something in his eyes that looked like he felt guilty about it. "Shredder says this is where youse gotta' sleep, so this is where youse gotta' sleep. But since you were real good- 'specially yesterday, he might start thinkin' about puttin' ya somewhere else. That ninja teacher youse have says you seem real smart for your age…"

"Yeah?"

"Somethin' about makin' sure youse get an education or something'." Bebop continued, "'Cause if you were made in a lab, and you're smarter then your family, they might as well see what youse know fer like… school stuff. Not jus' fightin'."

Mikey, surprised and not too thrilled with the idea of sitting in a room trying to learn his math all over again, scowled at the thought- making Bebop smile. "Yeah," he continued, "I know. School stuff… I don't get it either, but people with school smarts always turn out cool. My sister did those things."

"You have a sister?" Mikey asked, curious about his 'friend' and his family.

"Well, sure," Bebop continued, "Haven't seen her in a long time, 'suppose I should call. But me and her ain't never really got along- and now I'm a mutant, right? So… nah."

Mikey nodded, as if understanding- he couldn't call his brothers in this state, in this place. He didn't know what they were doing, or just how hard they were trying to find him… all he knew was he was still here, and getting a better deal by the moment. No way in shell he ever wanted to _work_ for Shredder, and he wanted to be here even less at the thought of school…

But he wasn't completely angry about the way things were turning out, captured by the enemy.

…And that kind of worried him.


End file.
